Circles
by heyhello
Summary: He was in love with her, she didn't love him. He gave up and moved on. He came back for a full divorce, she cried. Their feelings for each other just go on in circles. Does a circle ever end? Troypay [complete]
1. Doubts

_This is a story about Troy and Sharpay of course. It's a little bitter towards the beginning towards them. I don't want to say too much and give the whole story away. You'll just have to read and see what happens. I originally came up with this as a Zac and Ashley story, but it seemed to work MUCH better as a Troy and Sharpay...so I made it like this, Don't expect me to update a lot like I did with my previous story. I'm busy with school now and I'll do my best to update, but I can't promise an every day update. _

This story will get sweeter as it goes on, but for now it'll be a little bitter and things won't be going too well. This takes place WAY after High School when Troy and Sharpay are married with two kids…

**Disclaimer: I own nothing. That goes for all my stories. **

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Troy sat on his bed watching his wife brush her hair. She had a mad look on as she stared at the mirror, clearly looking back at him. He didn't understand what he had done wrong. It didn't make any sense at all. She had been being so moody and stubborn towards him it scared him. He had a feeling she wasn't in a good mood, like always. For the past two months she's been so distant from him. He was afraid to loose her. It seemed like she didn't love him anymore and things were falling apart. He didn't want that to happen. It would ruin his life. They had a nine-year-old son and a six-year-old daughter, imagine how hard things would be if that happened.

"What?" Troy finally asked not able to take her negative attitude anymore.

She let out a sigh and turned to him for once. She didn't speak at all; she just narrowed her eyes and then turned her head again.

"Where were you?" She asked keeping her eyes away from him.

"At work." He answered steadily.

"Don't lie." She spat.

"I'm not lying. I told you, I had to work late," He answered truthfully.

Sharpay just folded her arms across her chest and looked back at the mirror. She didn't believe him one bit, though Troy was telling the truth.

"I'm not lying." He stated unfolding the comforter.

She narrowed her eyes at him and sat her hairbrush down. She wasn't in the mood for arguing with him though she knew she was right. No matter what. Working late wasn't an excuse to miss dinner and to come home very late. She got up from her seat and walked over to the bed keeping her angry expression at Troy.

"Could you wake me up early tomorrow?" Troy asked before getting under the comforter.

"No." She responded turning off the lights.

Troy made an unsure look though Sharpay couldn't see him. That was a strange answer.

"And why not?" He asked feeling her crawl on the bed next to him.

"Because I won't be waking up early, that's why." She said with a hiss.

Troy let out a sigh and rested his head down against the pillow. He looked at the ceiling for a little bit and then turned to his side to face Sharpay. She quickly moved and turned to the other side so her back was facing him. Troy frowned and wrapped his arm around her waist, only she shrugged him off. He gave up and turned to his other side so his back was now facing her back.

"What's wrong with you?" He said in a mumble.

He figured Sharpay didn't hear him and he didn't bother to repeat his question. He just wanted some rest and he was too weak to speak. Sharpay was wide-awake; she just refused to answer his question. She didn't feel like Troy was being honest with her anymore. He was rarely around and it seemed like he was always off with someone. She didn't believe his little saying anymore about being just friends with Gabriella. It seemed like they were awfully close just for being friends. She had, had enough of Troy's little lies with her and that was it. She couldn't take it anymore. She wasn't going to play along; this had gone way too far.

Troy had been working on weekends all the time now and he's been gone at nights. Though he always says he's out with Chad or at work, it didn't seem real. Sharpay had talked to Chad and he's always said that Troy was with him, but she had a feeling Chad was just playing along with Troy. After all, they are best friends and Chad wasn't a really big fan of Sharpay's either. She was sure he would do anything to get Sharpay out of Troy's life.

"You've been lying to me." Sharpay spoke after a long silence.

Troy was nearly half asleep by the time but he still heard her every word.

"No I'm not." He answered in a sleepy manner.

Sharpay scoffed and pulled the comforter over her shoulder more, tugging on it firmly.

"I really am not." He said with a steady tone.

"Whatever Troy. You're out with someone—no you're out with Gabriella. I know it." She shifted her body to a comfortable position.

"I'm out with Gabriella? I don't think so." He responded.

"I don't believe you." She murmured.

"Well you should. I'm telling the truth." He sighed.

He couldn't believe his wife. She just loved to prove things didn't she? She just loved to assume things and she always came to her own conclusions. Troy knew no matter how hard he tried she wouldn't give up until she got what she wanted out of him. But what she wanted to hear was a lie. He wasn't out with Gabriella, he hasn't seen her for a while now because he was too busy working and spending time with his family. He couldn't understand why Sharpay couldn't take in that he was a good friend with Gabriella—nothing more. He had no feelings for her at all, he never had.

"You're being a jerk Troy. You really are. You're never home for the kids anymore!" Sharpay exclaimed with cold anger coming out of her voice.

"I try okay? I try my best! I work so you and the kids can have what you want!" Troy said in a high tone lifting his head up.

"No you don't! You don't try! You didn't even go to Daniel's basketball game last weekend!" She cried.

"I didn't know there was game!" He said with a yelling tone.

"Exactly! Because you're never around to know what's going on!" Sharpay said before jumping out of bed.

"What does that have to do with anything? What are you accusing me for?" Troy asked slapping his hand to his forehead.

"You're cheating on me! You don't even care for me or the kids!" Sharpay yelled stomping her feet against the carpet.

Troy sat up watching her walk towards the bedroom door.

"Where are you going?" He asked pushing the comforter away from him.

"Away from you." Sharpay answered walking out of the bedroom, slamming the door shut.

She walked down the hall to their daughter Madeline's bedroom. The little six-year-old was sleeping peacefully on her bed with a teddy bear in her hand. Sharpay sighed and crawled on the bed next to her. Madeline moved a little and opened her eyes slowly reveling her crystal blue eyes. Sharpay put on a smile and kissed her forehead.

Madeline looked so much like Sharpay. Troy would always call her "Mini Sharpay". She had the same smile, giggle, hair, looks, and pretty much everything else with Sharpay. Only her eyes were Troy's. Madeline was a total daddy's girl and Troy couldn't say no to her at all. Madeline may look a lot like Sharpay, but Daniel looked exactly like Troy. They shared the same eyes and the same sandy brown hair. Though Troy's seemed a bit darker than Daniel's. Daniel was sure close to Troy with the same sport taste and they enjoyed playing basketball. Sharpay had told him many times to stop spoiling her and Daniel. He can't help it. He wanted to make sure his kids got everything they ever wanted and they were living the dream life. He made sure they got the room they wanted and got it just how they wanted it to look like. Sharpay always thought that the house was far too big for just four people, but Troy reminded her that she lived in a large house too, with only four people. She didn't seem to argue with that. She just couldn't believe how far he was going with getting everything for the kids. They had a swimming pool, a playground, a playroom for Daniel and a playroom for Madeline. He also made sure Sharpay got everything she needed. Things were going so well, but now it seemed like everything was to just drift away any time now.

"Mommy?" Madeline's sweet little voice whispered as she closed her eyes again.

"Yeah." Sharpay pulled her daughter in for a hug slowly closing her eyes to get some rest.

Troy walked out of the bedroom and walked down the hall to the guest bedroom wondering if Sharpay would be there. He opened the door and found the room empty. He then walked over to Madeline's bedroom having a strong feeling she would be there. Sure enough she was, lying on the bed with her eyes close. He walked over to her but then turned around. He didn't want to bother her again. She would just throw a fit and yell at him. Plus he didn't want to wake his daughter up. He walked out of the pink room and headed back to the bedroom.

"Dad?" Daniel's voice peered into the hall.

Troy looked up to find his son looking at him with scared eyes.

"What are you doing still up?" Troy asked walking over to him.

"I heard you and mom, again." Daniel spoke with a tone of sleepiness.

Troy shook his head. This wasn't working out. He and Sharpay couldn't keep on doing this anymore. They didn't trust each other and it was making things worst. This had to end.

"It was nothing." He said rubbing Daniel's head.

"You were yelling at each other." Daniel pointed out.

"Just a little argument. Go back to bed. You have basketball tomorrow. " Troy said in a depressed tone.

"Are you coming?" Daniel asked.

"Yeah, I am." Troy crept a small grin.

"You sure?" His son questioned.

"Go back to bed, Daniel." Troy said walking back to his bedroom and closing the door behind him.

He didn't want to have to come to the conclusion, but it was clear. His and Sharpay's relationship was falling apart every minute. Life wasn't the same anymore. They didn't feel the same way they did before, well at least it seemed like Sharpay didn't. Troy still felt love for her and he didn't want to stop loving her. But it seemed like she had stopped loving him for sure. They never could get along when they together. There was always something to argue about and nothing to ever just laugh or smile about. It was all about frowns and harsh remarks. The only problem was. He wasn't going to let her go. He couldn't. It's going to be impossible. Things would be really different and hard and he couldn't image life without Sharpay. He's always told himself that one-day things would be back to normal. He wondered if he should quit his job, but who would make the money then? He had to work, but if his work were getting in the life of his family then maybe quitting it would make everything better. He couldn't think of a better answer for all the crazy mix-ups that he and Sharpay were going through.

Sharpay had been confused for the past few weeks about Troy. She couldn't stand him anymore. He just made her feel so negative and crazy. She didn't like it when she took things out on Daniel or Madeline. But how could she and Troy get along if he wasn't being honest about anything? If he couldn't be at home anymore just for one whole day how were they suppose to have family things going on like a few years ago. Sometimes she wondered if things would have been better if she never married Troy. At the time when they were dating she thought that she would never find another guy like Troy and that he was just so perfect. Now, it she didn't know what to do. It felt like this was all a huge mistake and she couldn't take anything back—she didn't want to though. Everything seemed to be so fine and going well until Gabriella moved back in town four months ago. Then Sharpay started to get a weird sense that Troy was suddenly going after her. She understood that Gabriella had a crush on Troy during their High School years but Troy had made it clear to her that he never had feelings for her, what was she suppose to believe?

_

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I don't know when the next update will be. But I'll do my best to update as soon as I can. But it won't be TOO soon. I'll probably get to update during weekends and whenever I have free time. But please review and tell me what you think of this story! It'll only take a minute and the more reviews I get, the more I want to keep on writing! _


	2. Cries

_Okay, lol I take back what I said when I finished The Rumors—I said that I would keep this a sweet story….yeah…………….Not what I planned. I ended up changing a lot of the details as I reread everything!_

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Sharpay woke up to the feeling of her daughter moving around the bed. She had forgotten that she fell asleep in Madeline's room last night. She sat up noticing Madeline trying to climb over her. She glanced at the clock, it was noon already. She couldn't believe she slept in that late. She would have thought Troy would wake her up or something. Madeline jumped off her bed and rushed to the bathroom. Sharpay stood up and walked out of her daughter's bedroom. She walked straight to Daniel's bedroom to check if he was awake yet. She found his bedroom empty and the bed made.

"Odd." She said to herself walking out of the bedroom and back down the hall.

She made her way to the master bedroom and noticed the bed was made too. She frowned at herself and pondered. If Troy was already awake, then how come he didn't wake her up to make him breakfast or something? She walked down the stairs to see where Troy or Daniel was.

"TROY!" She yelled walking down the stairs.

The house seemed too quiet for anyone to be home. She felt a little worried not knowing where Troy had gone with her son. Usually Daniel would be in his bedroom still sleeping right now and Troy would be doing whatever. She stepped into the kitchen and found a note on the counter. It was Troy telling her that he went to Daniel's basketball game. She felt a sudden relief. She had forgotten about the basketball game due to their argument last night. It was clear, she and Troy didn't belong together, end of story. She wasn't happy with him anymore and things weren't the same.

"Mommy, what's for breakfast?" Madeline asked walking in the kitchen.

Sharpay shrugged and looked at the note one last time. Troy said he would be back by noon and it was already noon. She wasn't sure if he's had breakfast or anything yet, and she wasn't in the mood to make any food right now. But she also didn't want to make her daughter starve.

"What do you want to eat?" Sharpay asked her daughter who had lifted herself up on the stool by the island counter.

"A banana." Madeline answered staring at the bowl of fruits.

"A banana?" Sharpay raised her eyebrows at her.

Madeline nodded and just smiled while Sharpay handed her the banana. She giggled and started to eat the banana. Sharpay just gave her daughter a funny look and then went off to look for something to eat herself. Madeline sometimes scared her, just because she was so random and loved to just giggle every time she felt like it. But she loved her daughter; she did many things with her. Take her to ballet, dance classes, competitions, and many other things. Madeline loved to perform just like Sharpay and she loved to dance.

"Mommy! Where's daddy?" Madeline asked chewing on the banana that Sharpay had cut out for her since she didn't like eating it whole.

"At Daniel's basketball game." Sharpay answered heating pizza left over from last night.

She sat down on the stool across from Madeline and sighed. She didn't know what to do. It didn't seem easy to go up to Troy and just say 'We're done.' It doesn't seem like she could do that. It's not like they're just dating and are teenagers. They're married, with two kids. It's a little hard to just separate from each other. How would the kids take it? Would anything work out? Who would stay with whom? It would be a lot of work and she knew Troy wouldn't be very happy about it.

"It's not like he didn't see it coming." She said aloud not meaning too.

Madeline cocked her head in a confuse position.

"Huh?" She said with a puzzled look.

Sharpay shook her head and sigh. It would be really hard to explain everything to Madeline, Daniel might understand it a little better. Though she didn't understand it either. All she wanted to do was tell Troy that things weren't working out and that they needed to go their separate ways. Now if only she could say that to Troy without screaming at him. It was so hard to keep a straight conversation with Troy now a days. It was weird how sudden her feelings changed for him so soon. She swore a few months ago they were so close and got along very well. Then everything just fell into pieces and Troy was hardly ever at home. To which Sharpay assumed he was out with Gabriella, even though he tries his best to deny it all the time. One day she will prove to him that she was right and he was wrong. Once she gets everything together.

"How come daddy never reads me a bed time story anymore? Or sings me to sleep?" Madeline questioned with a sad look on her face.

"He's just busy." Sharpay answered giving herself a disgusted look.

_'Busy with Gabriella.'_ She thought.

"All the time?" Madeline asked.

Sharpay nodded. Even their daughter noticed it too. She wasn't only one noticing Troy's absents with the family. This had been the third time this month that Madeline had complained about how Troy was never home to tuck her in anymore. Daniel has never said anything, except for how he doesn't like hearing them fight at night. Sharpay felt bad about that, but it was really hard to control things. Sometimes she just wanted to go off on Troy until she got everything cleared. Her love for him was just gone. She didn't give a care for him anymore, not right now. She considered him a liar and a backstabber. There was no place in her heart left for him. She felt guilty admitting that but it was the full truth. When you start to realize that someone doesn't seem to care about you anymore you loose your care for them too. She hated to put an end to everything that seemed to be the perfect life in the beginning. But it must have been too good to be true.

She heard the front door click and open, knowing it was Troy and Daniel. The only thought that came to her mind was how would Troy act today after what happened last night. Not that it was the first time; usually he just didn't talk to her for the whole day and went to work. Today, who knew? Troy walked in the kitchen right away knowing Sharpay would be there. Daniel was with him carrying a basketball and a large trophy. Madeline beamed as soon as she saw Troy.

"Daddy!" Madeline exclaimed.

Sharpay didn't mean to, but she rolled her eyes. She didn't even know what she was doing. But Troy saw her and her choice to ignore it.

"Hey honey," Troy said giving his daughter a kiss on the cheek.

He looked over at Sharpay and smiled. She didn't respond, she kept her eyes on Daniel and only on Daniel.

"We won, mom." Daniel said showing his trophy to his mom.

"That's great! I'm proud of you." Sharpay smiled giving her son a hug.

Daniel left the room to put his trophy in his room while Madeline stayed seated playing with the kitchen counter tile. Sharpay put her plate in the sink and let out a soft sigh. Troy walked over to her not sure if she was in a better mood today.

"Sorry about last night." He whispered into her ear.

She huffed and moved away from him. Even she couldn't stand to be near him anymore. Troy followed her movements trying to make eye contact with her only she kept on gazing away from him. He might have said sorry, but she's not going to accept it. What she wants to hear is sorry for cheating on her, or for him to admit that he's cheating on her. Just something that has to do with the _truth_. Even if he did admit that, she still wouldn't forgive him.

"Look, I'm sorry. I don't—"

"I don't want to hear it Troy. I don't. I'm done listening to you and your excuses." Sharpay cut him off.

Troy glanced back at his daughter nudging her to go upstairs. He had a feeling that they were going to get in another argument again. Madeline just frowned and left the room. All she wanted to do was stay in the same room as her mom and dad since she hasn't been able to in a long time because Troy and Sharpay were never in the same room anymore. It was mainly Sharpay who didn't like anything Troy did for her anymore. Troy tried his best to get along with her, but nothing worked anymore, nothing.

"Why are you doing this to me? I'm trying to be nice and you keep on moving away from me." Troy said in a light tone.

"You're living in a world of lies. Why don't you just go off with Gabriella or something?" Sharpay smirked angrily.

"Because I don't want to be with Gabriella! I want to be with you!" He exclaimed feeling anger come over him.

"Stop lying! It's not working. You can just admit it okay? You see Gabriella every day and ever since she started working for you—you're always at work!" She cried slapping the cupboard shut.

"That's not true! She doesn't work all the time Sharpay and she doesn't work at the same building as me! You need to realize that!" Troy explained.

Sharpay looked at him and stormed off the room. Troy walked after her; he wasn't going to give up yet. In his mind he kept on telling himself that she would come back to her senses and believe him like she use to. That was all he was going to keep on thinking, until everything was back to normal.

"Can I just get some peace around here?" Sharpay snapped turning around to look at Troy.

Troy stepped back, her voice sounded so icy it made him shiver. He couldn't figure out what was really going on with her. Sharpay made sure he knew for a fact that she was tired with him and she didn't want to deal with him anymore. She knew how harsh she was being but there was no other she can think of getting even with Troy.

"I'm just trying to get along with you—like always!" Troy responded.

"Well it's not working and I don't want to get along with you! I don't want you!" She cried stomping up the stairs.

"What do you want me to do then?" He asked walking slowly after her.

"To go away! Leave! Just go!" She shouted as she reached the final stair.

Troy felt his whole body collapse. She really disliked him like that? She wanted him to leave the house? What was he doing so bad that got her always so angry towards him?

Sharpay however just didn't see her life with Troy anymore. It was over. She figured she had made a huge mistake marrying him and dating him. But why didn't it feel like a mistake—ten years ago?

"You want me to leave?" Troy gulped hoping she wasn't serious.

She just nodded her head and rushed to the bedroom. Troy stayed at the center of the stairs and stared ahead, blankly. This was not going to happen, he wasn't going to leave, one order she commanded, he wasn't going to follow. He walked up the stairs making his way to the to where he heard Daniel's door shut and he saw Madeline standing in front of her room with tears in her eyes. He felt like someone had just dump hot water on him. He knew that Daniel and Madeline had heard everything; the look on Madeline's face was pretty obvious. She looked very scared. The kids shouldn't have to live like this; he didn't imagine this to ever happen.


	3. Falling

Madeline made a crying look and grabbed for her doorknob. She pushed her door open and rushed inside slamming the door. Troy shook his head and walked towards Madeline's bedroom. He needed to talk to the little girl and it wasn't going to be easy. There were many reasons why he would find talking to Madeline difficult. He hadn't had much time with her; he was usually with Daniel practicing or playing sports. His time with her was usually at night when he tucked her in for bed and read to her. He hadn't done that in so long. He felt bad since Madeline was very attached to him and no it must have seemed like he was ignoring her.

He pushed the door open and walked over to Madeline who was sitting on her bed crying, holding her favorite teddy bear.

"Maddie." Troy called her softly pushing the door open.

She just cried and hid her face from him. Her blonde hair was already wet from her tears and they were all over her face. Troy sat down next to her and rubbed her back gently. She was crying hard and trying to break free from his grip.

"It's okay." He patted her.

"No it's not!" She cried rubbing her face.

* * *

Troy tried his best to explain to the six-year-old what was going on. She didn't seem to understand it, or she didn't want to understand it. He wasn't sure, but it wasn't easy with her crying every second. She refused to listen to what Troy was saying and kept on crawling away from him across the bed. He could tell she didn't want to be near him at the moment and he didn't blame her at all.

"You don't love me?" Madeline spoke as if she was about to break down.

"I love you. I love Daniel. And I love mommy." Troy picked her up and sat her on his lap.

Madeline shivered and buried her face on his shirt. She wrapped her small arms around his waist and began to mumble against his shirt. He hated seeing her cry; he always wanted his kids to be happy. He hated knowing that the kids had to hear all the arguments he and Sharpay tend to have every night, or every time they were in the same room.

"Things aren't working out and mommy just wants a break from me." Troy admitted.

He didn't want to admit it, but it was the truth. Maybe a short break from each other would cure everything, just maybe. If this was a way to keep his love for Sharpay then he was willing to do it, as long as he got to her in the end. How long would be the break? He didn't know. Maybe just a month, if he could handle it. It just didn't seem right that they had to separate. But then again it was probably the best thing to do. Maybe he and Sharpay weren't in love anymore.

"Mommy doesn't love me?" Madeline spoke trying to make a statement; only it came out as a question.

"She loves you, very much. And she loves Daniel too." Troy said as he heard the door open slowly.

"What about you, daddy?" Madeline asked turning her head to see her mom walk in the room.

"I don't know." Troy answered before he felt Madeline slip off his lap.

Sharpay entered the room fully and cleared her throat. She didn't show any emotions towards to Troy, as a matter of face, she made sure to never make eye contact with him—ever. She was on the verge of just screaming, "I hate you," at him. Right now wasn't the right time for that for a few good reasons. She didn't want to talk to him and Madeline was in the room. She thought maybe not talking to troy will give him the idea that she could care less about him now.

"Come on Madeline. Let's go." Sharpay held her hand out for Madeline to grab.

Troy looked and her and wondered where she was going now. He didn't remember he saying anything about leaving.

"Where are you going?" He asked suspiciously.

"To the mall." Sharpay spoke.

He wondered if it was all right if he went with them. He wasn't sure if she was going to invite him or what. But when she just held Madeline's hand and headed for the door he had a feeling she wasn't going to bother asking him anything.

"Daniel is staying. Keep an eye on him." She said before walking out of the room.

Madeline took one last look at Troy and shut her eyes as she followed her mom.

Troy just sighed and looked around the bedroom. He made his way to Madeline's little couch where a light brown teddy bear with a pink bow was laying. He picked it up and remembered the day he rushed to the store to find a teddy bear for his soon to be born daughter.

"Dad—how about we shoot some hoops?" Daniel poked his head inside the room.

"Ah. Not today buddy," He said giving Daniel a weak smile.

Daniel frowned and walked away from the door. Troy rubbed his neck and walked out of the room. He needed to get some rest. His mind was over filled with stress.

…

It was almost seven when Troy woke up from is long afternoon nap. He had heard voices around the room and awoke from it. He slowly opened his eyes and found Sharpay with Madeline across the bedroom talking. Sharpay was brushing Madeline's hair, which looked like she had just gotten out of the shower. They were talking about dances and singing.

He stood up and ran his fingers through his hair. Sharpay turned around to give him a quick glance and then spoke.

"There's dinner in the microwave. Heat it up if you get hungry."

All Troy did was nod and walk out of the room. Boy did he have a long nap. He rubbed his eyes and made his way down the stairs. He had remembered his dream about Sharpay. It scared him a little, just because it seemed real. He dreamt that she ran off with some other man and left him with the kids—then he saw her again with a different man—Zeke—with three kids.

"No." He muttered rushing towards the kitchen.

Daniel was sitting by the island counter having his dessert quickly. Troy approached him and rubbed his hair. Only Daniel didn't move or say anything. He just sat there eating his ice cream.

"You okay, buddy?" He asked curiously as he walked over towards the microwave.

"Someone called for you. Some woman, named Lauren. She wanted to know if you could attend some meeting for work tomorrow." Daniel explained.

Troy shook his head and started the microwave. A meeting on a Sunday? He didn't want to do that, not after what Sharpay had just said about his working habit. He wanted to prove to her that he wasn't cheating on her and that he cared more about their family than work. He noticed Daniel giving him a strange gaze.

"You might as well go. Mom's right, nothing can fix the problem, dad. You don't get along anymore and you don't have to keep trying to fix them." Daniel said finishing his food.

The sound of the microwave circling around made Troy jump and what Daniel had said. He felt his whole face drop. This was new. His son telling him that he couldn't fix this. He figured Sharpay must have talked to the kids about the problems. Still she didn't have to tell Daniel that he couldn't fix it no matter what.

"Mom said that with you staying around, it's just making things worst." Daniel stood up taking his spoon and bowl to the sink.

"What?" Troy asked watching his son walk out of the kitchen.

What bothered him most was that he didn't know what he did wrong to make Sharpay so angry towards him. All he knew was that he came home late one day and she flipped out on him. Before things were all right, not perfect, just fine. Now all he could think of was really separating from Sharpay for a little while, the only problem was how would the kids take it? He didn't want to loose touch with the kids, he wanted to be there for them and watch them grow up.

Madeline jolted down the stairs in a giggling mood. Troy could hear her all the way from the kitchen. She quickly dashed towards the kitchen to get a bottle of water.

"Hey." Troy smiled at his daughter simply.

"Hi daddy!" She giggled opening the fridge.

Troy watched her carefully as her little body disappeared behind the large fridge door. He let out a small chuckle when he heard the little one huff trying to get to the water bottles.

"Need help?" Troy asked after a minute of watching Madeline shuffling stuff in and out of the fridge.

She nodded and opened the door wider for Troy. Troy simply took a new bottle of water out and opened the lid before handing it to her.

"Thanks." She smiled

Troy smiled in return and nodded. Madeline took a sip out of her water bottle and placed the lid back on. She looked up at her dad before holding the water bottle and stormed away from the kitchen.

* * *

Troy sat in the living room watching TV. It was almost midnight, but he didn't feel like walking upstairs now. He was too comfy on the couch enjoying the show he was watching. He heard footsteps coming from the stairs, he knew it was Sharpay. The kids were both asleep, so it had to be her. Sure, enough it was her. She entered the living room loudly, making her way to the couch. Troy just watched her as she sat next to him. He thought this was rather weird, she usually never stayed in the same room with him and now she was sitting next to him.

"What are you doing still up?" He asked sitting back.

She bit her lower lip and turned her head to face him.

"We need to talk." She said with a low tone.

Troy knew what it would be about. He could tell her by the tone of her voice and he knew he wasn't going to like it.

"Yeah I know. You want me to leave." He said with sarcasm in his voice.

Sharpay looked at him with no emotions. Troy couldn't even tell what she thinking of feeling. It was too hard with her giving him her usually mad look. He just wanted her to say it already. She knew that he knew what she wanted, so why couldn't she just come to the conclusion?

"Should I leave? Or do you want to leave?" She asked.

Troy felt a smack inside of him. That's what he wanted to hear and he felt cold and dark. This time he knew she was truly serious and he needed to come up with an answer fast.

"I guess we can take a break from each other. I'll—I—I'll leave." He spoke.

Sharpay let out a sigh and sat up. She felt a huge relief getting that over with. She thought she would have to do more talking but apparently Troy already knew it was coming and he seemed to understand. She figured her probably felt the same way she was feeling and their relationship was just over for sure. Now to find out when Troy was exactly planning on leaving. She hadn't thought about what Daniel and Madeline would think about this and she didn't really want to talk to them about it either. Maybe they would just figure it out on their own and not question her about what happened.

"I'll—I'll leave—by the end of tomorrow—hopefully." Troy bit his tongue not wanting to say those words.

All Sharpay did was nod.

* * *

Just a reminder to everyone, this story is a Troypay story. I'm just letting you know that eventually…_maybe_ things will get better. I haven't decided yet. LOL. 


	4. Leaving

It had been a really long night for Troy. He slept on the couch, since he didn't want to go upstairs and sleep in one of the guest rooms. He didn't see the point since he was already on the couch anyways. The couch wasn't very comfortable, at least the way he was sleeping on it. It just seemed very rough and he kept on tossing and turning all night long. He knew he couldn't go upstairs with Sharpay, she seemed far too happy with the idea of him leaving. He didn't need to see that anymore. He was already hurt enough. He didn't really get enough sleep though since he had to wake up before Sharpay or the kids did. In his lifetime, he had never imagined that he would be waking up at five in the morning to pack his stuff and leave. This was just insane.

"Ugh." He groaned trying to open the drawer.

He tried his best to be quite, trying to not wake Sharpay up. Though, he wasn't doing a very good job since it was still dark and he didn't want to turn the lights on. He did his best empty out his side of the closet and a few of the drawers. After that he gave up. It was way too dark to get anything else. He stood up to take a look at Sharpay. In his mind, he still couldn't believe he was really doing this. And he couldn't believe she was happy that he was doing this.

"Hurry up!" Troy frowned opening his bag.

He tried his best to stuff everything in two bags as he didn't want to carry more than two.

The room was still pitch black. Troy looked over to the bed again to where Sharpay was sleeping ever so peacefully. He learned to accept that she seemed much happier without him and all he wanted was for her to be happy. He never knew making sure someone you loved was happy could put so much pain in you. He tried to not think of this as the end of their relationship, but it was hard knowing that this could be it. He walked over towards the bed and sat beside her. No matter how much Sharpay would end up hating him, he was still going to keep on loving her. Deep down he knew for sure she hated him with passion.

"I'll see you around," He patted her shoulder.

He stood back up and took a deep breath. His only problem now was where in the world he would end up, as for this moment he was off to Chad's place, but he couldn't stay there forever. Taylor would get sick of him right away. She never liked Troy that much and she hated him after he went out with Sharpay and got married to her. Ever since then he and Chad barely hung out because of Taylor forbidding him to hang out at Troy's house. They ended up hanging out at restaurants for little dinners or something. Just them two guys. Daniel was also good friends with Chad's oldest son, Cameron. They were both on the same basketball team, that gave Chad and Troy time to talk too while watching the game. Troy got the idea that Sharpay probably got suspicious with him since he was always out with Chad, but that didn't give her the rights to accuse him of cheating on her. He just wanted to hang out with his best friend like old times. But right now, he needed to go say bye to Daniel and Madeline.

Troy didn't want to be too far away from the kids. He still wanted to keep in touch with them and watch them grow up. Gladly, he wasn't going to be the one explaining to the kids why he was leaving. Sharpay could do that. Right now, he needed to see the kids before leaving and he had to try and not wake them up. He grabbed his bags and carefully walked out of the bedroom. His bedroom. He closed the door behind him slowly and tiptoed down the hall to Daniel's room. The room was dark and quiet. Troy could barely see anything! Good thing he memorized the room and knew where the bed stood. He sat by Daniel's body and rubbed his hair trying to be careful. Daniel slowly moved to his side and opened his eyes.

"Hey," Troy whispered.

He had failed the trying not to wake Daniel up part.

"Dad?" Daniel sat up in a sleepy manner.

"Go back to bed, buddy," Troy spoke trying not to sound disappointed.

Though he could feel himself start to tear up thinking he wouldn't be seeing his son or daughter every day now.

"What's up?" Daniel spoke with a yawn.

"I'll see you around," Troy stood up, but not before shaking Daniel's hair.

Daniel yawned and nodded. His brain wasn't in full motion yet so he didn't say much.

"Keep practicing, okay? You'll end up in the NBA, buddy," Troy gave him a pat on the head before walking out of the bedroom.

He took one last look at Daniel's room before closing the door quietly. He knew he would be back sometime, he just didn't know when though. This was just a break from Sharpay—that was it. He figured it might make her believe him more. He knew he was telling the truth and he needed Sharpay to believe that. One day he could see that she would be screaming sorry to him for not believing him after all these times. Just one day she would. She could even go talk to Gabriella and she'd tell her the same thing he'd been telling her. Only she wouldn't go talk to Gabriella at all, she wasn't too fond of Gabriella and the last thing she would do is to be in the same room as her.

Troy made his way across the hall to Madeline's room. He pushed the slightly opened door and walked in. He looked around the room with lights circling the walls shaped like stars. The room was glowing brightly. Troy walked over to where Madeline was lying, cuddling with her teddy bear. He smiled at the scenery and placed a kiss on her forehead. He felt bad that he hadn't been around with her much and that was one thing Sharpay was right about. But he still loved the little girl and he tried his best to spend time with her, only she was more into the things Sharpay liked. It was mainly Sharpay taking her to dances and all the girlie things Madeline liked, while Troy did guy stuff with Daniel. To him it seemed perfectly fine as long as he read and tuck Madeline in for bed, in which he hadn't done for a very long time now.

Madeline opened her eyes feeling the bed move and smiled seeing Troy. Troy smiled back at her and scooted next to her.

"Hi daddy," She stretched reaching out for a hug.

Troy pulled her up for a quick hug and sat her back down. He didn't want to get too attach now that he was leaving. That was really hard though. It didn't make sense that he was walking out like this. He couldn't understand why this had to happen. Why couldn't Sharpay just trust him? Then he wouldn't have to leave and they could have been the happy family they were a few months ago. Strange how fast things can change?

Madeline frowned and sat up on her bed.

"Where you going?" She asked pulling her comforter over her knee.

"Just out. I'll be back." Troy answered with a nod.

"Will you come tonight for my ballet recital?" Madeline asked with a pout.

Troy looked down. He couldn't tell her no. That would crush her. He didn't want to lie either and tell her yes, then not show up. He'd get her hopes up and then bring her back down. Though he could show up tonight and watch her. Sharpay never said anything about stopping him from seeing his kids. After all, Madeline is his daughter.

"I'll see." He answered.

"Okay." Madeline yawned glancing at her window.

"Go back to bed," Troy stood up tucking her back in.

Madeline just smiled and crawled back under her sheets. Troy gave her a kiss on the forehead and walked back towards the door. He let out a sigh and closed the door slightly. The master bedroom door was still closed firmly. He wanted to go check on Sharpay one last time, but he didn't want to wake her up. He had already woken up the kids, who said he wouldn't wake her up now?

Troy made his way towards the door and opened it gently. Sharpay was still in the same position as he had walked out. He closed back the door, not entering it. It was too early and he knew she would yell at him if he woke her up. Without another stop, Troy walked down the stairs. The whole house was dark, with a little light from the sky. It was still cold and misty outside. Troy grabbed his bags and headed for the front door.

"Great." Troy rolled his eyes turning back around to get his car keys, which are upstairs in the bedroom.

He walked up the stairs and made it back to the front of the master bedroom. He let out a groan and walked inside. The lights were on now. Sharpay was now sitting up on the bed staring at the wall blankly. She must have been in a really deep thought since she didn't even hear the door open or Troy walking in. She seemed so concentrated staring at the wall and Troy didn't want to bother her. Only he was curious to find out if she was all right.

"You okay?" Troy asked walking over towards the dresser.

Sharpay turned her head surprised to see Troy. She had thought he was long gone by now. Not long gone since she had heard him walk in the and out of the room and packing his stuff. She wanted to get up and turn the lights on for him that way he could see better, but she didn't want to let him know that she was awake.

"I thought you left." She said in a whisper.

"Left my keys." Troy picked them up and showed her.

She nodded and stood up from her sitting position. To Troy, it almost sounded like as if she was having doubts on letting him go. But he didn't bother to say anything. He walked over towards her and patted her shoulder. She didn't seem to react to it. All she did was nod and stare into space.

"I'll see you around," Troy nudge his head throwing the keys up in the air and catching it with his right hand.

"Yeah." Sharpay crept a small smile across her face.

"The kids might be up," He said.

"Oh." Sharpay mumbled.

"See you," Troy said before walking out of the door and closing it behind him.

Troy stood behind the door for a little bit wondering if she was going to come flying out of the door telling him not to go. After about a minute of waiting he moved away from the door and slowly walked down the stairs. He kept on thinking it wasn't too late for Sharpay to stop him, but she wasn't going to from what he could sense. And now he was off to Chad's house with Taylor giving him rude look everywhere. He could only image that.

Sharpay let out a sigh and stood up to the tall window. She watched as little sprinkles of rain fell upon the glass. Troy's car was in the driveway ready to be driven out. The front door shut and she could see Troy throwing his bags into the car. A single tear rolled down Sharpay's face. Guilt came upon her body as she watched the car drive away.

* * *

(Aww…Troy's gone!!!!!!!) Well I don't know if I'll be able to update this week for this story since I don't have the next chapter written yet, but I didn't have anything to do today so I wrote this. I'll try my best to update by next weekend. Until then...please review. 


	5. Dramatic

The morning sun had finally come. Sharpay had been sitting on her bed for the past two hours figuring out of what she had concluded with was right. Part of her said it was, the other part said it wasn't. She didn't like not having Troy still dead asleep next to her on the bed. She liked how she didn't have to wait for him to get up before she could make the bed though. She liked how she didn't have to worry about all the stupid lies he had for her. So then maybe separating from Troy was for a good cause.

"MOMMY!" Madeline's voice echoed around the upstairs as she pushed the master bedroom doors open.

Sharpay looked at her daughter's direction shocked to see her bright and early. Troy did tell her that the kids might have been up.

"What?" Sharpay asked as Madeline jumped on her bed.

"Someone's at the door for you! I let him in. He's in the living room waiting," Madeline exclaimed jumping on the bed.

"What? I told you not to let strangers in! Or to not open the door without my permission!" Sharpay's eyes widened as she pulled the comforter away from her legs.

"But I thought you liked Mr. Mark," Madeline followed her mom out of the room.

"Who the hell is Mr. Mark?" Sharpay spat at her daughter rushing to the living room.

Madeline shrugged getting the idea that she was in big trouble. She rushed down the stairs and followed her mom who was walking at a very fast pace. She was in really big trouble now for letting some "stranger" in the house.

"Next time you let a stranger in this house I'm going to—" Sharpay stopped when she reached the living room to find the Gardner—Mac sitting calmly on the couch.

Sharpay let out a huge relief. She was getting ready to strangle her daughter for a second now.

"Mrs. Bolton, did you want me to trim around the whole back and front yard today?" Mac asked standing up.

"Oh yes, if you don't mind," Sharpay smiled picked Madeline up.

Mac smiled and headed out towards the front yard to start his work. Sharpay sighed and fell to the couch with Madeline on her lap.

"Where's daddy?" Madeline asked with a worried look on her face.

Sharpay bit her lower lip. She wasn't sure how to answer that question. She hadn't thought about dealing with the kids. Now she was sitting with her six-year-old daughter who looked like she was about to cry at any second. The worried look on Madeline's face almost made Sharpay cry. She did feel really strange without Troy around. She thought it wouldn't have been such a big deal because Troy was never really home anyways, but in reality this was him for real gone—out of her life. But this was what she wanted and she had to be happy about it.

"I don't know. He left." Sharpay finally thought of an answer.

That was the truth. Troy never told her where he was going so therefore she really didn't know. It wasn't like her six-year-old daughter would begin to question her about that.

"To where?" Madeline asked playing with the tip of Sharpay's hair.

"I don't know." Sharpay answered.

"But he said he would watch me tonight." Madeline pouted.

"Your dad says a lot of things and he never does them," Sharpay said coldly.

"Oh." Madeline said turning her head.

"He won't show. He never does." Sharpay said standing up.

"He said he might!" Madeline corrected.

"He says that a lot!" Sharpay exclaimed.

Madeline pouted and walked back upstairs to her bedroom.

The living room was quiet again. No usual Sunday morning basketball games on TV that Troy would be watching. Sharpay enjoyed the peacefulness of the room but felt empty inside. A lot of stress did leave her mind knowing she didn't have to deal with Troy anymore. In mind she felt guilty about making Troy leave and how Daniel hadn't spoken to her all afternoon. Daniel seemed to have a grudge with her and refused to out of his bedroom. Madeline, on the other hand she had no idea where her dad was.

………………..

Troy arrived at Chad's house and was shown to the guest room right away by Chad. Taylor was out to the store, which made it easy for Troy to feel comfortable right away. Chad was happy to have him over, but he was disappointed that Taylor would just not get over the fact that Troy and Sharpay had gotten together. To think she would like Troy better now that he and Sharpay weren't really together anymore!

"I wish you could stay long man." Chad rubbed his head.

"Don't worry about it. I'll find an apartment soon," Troy threw his bag on the bed.

He needed some time alone. It would have been rude though if he just told Chad to leave the room. This is Chad's house and he had to be respectful. He had a feeling that Chad would start questioning him about what happened between he and Sharpay. Right now, Troy was nowhere near ready to even talk about that. All he wanted to do was sleep. He had driven around for two hours, with no sleep. It made him wonder if Chad even got the idea that he was really beat. All Chad did was talk and talk about what they could do for the week he was staying and how it will be so cool to have plenty of just them guys.

"You'll still keep in touch with your kids right?" Chad's question shook Troy out of his thoughts.

"Yeah, of course." Troy answered.

"That's good. " Chad nodded.

Troy sat down on the bed and brought is hands together, his head down. He should be at his house right now, playing basketball with Daniel or trying to play some game with Madeline. Better yet, he's supposed to go watch Madeline tonight and he knew that he wasn't going to be able too. He felt pain knowing he would crush Madeline big time after he made a semi promise.

_'My poor daughter. I can't do this! Sharpay's not going to let me back in a month. She'll never let me back. I can't be away from her—or my kids. This is impossible!'_ Troy thought.

"So you want to get some rest now?" Chad finally asked what Troy had wanted to hear since he walked in the house.

Troy nodded and Chad walked out of the room. As soon as Troy lay on the bed, he was fast asleep.

………………

"Daniel!" Sharpay called her son who hadn't spoken to her all day.

She was starting to get worried and didn't know what she did wrong for Daniel to not talk to her. She hadn't said anything to him that would have upset him. What was he being stubborn about now?

"Are you going to talk to me or what?" Sharpay asked angrily.

Daniel turned his head away from his mom. Sharpay felt herself fume. She wasn't ready to already have this type of problem. Too many things were happening all at once.

"Mommy. He's not talking to you." Madeline skipped down the hall.

Sharpay sighed and closed Daniel's bedroom door. She had Madeline and she knew Madeline would tell her everything. If Daniel wasn't going to tell her, Madeline would.

"Madeline! Come here." Sharpay called waving her hand towards her bedroom.

Madeline skipped towards her and walked in the bedroom.

"What's up with your brother?" Sharpay asked sitting on the chair by her desk.

"He said that daddy's not coming back. But I don't believe him. Daddy just went to work right?" Madeline asked curiously.

"Hmm…" Sharpay mumbled.

"Mommy?" Madeline asked sitting on the carpet.

"Honey—there are some things that you won't understand right now and I don't want to talk about it," Sharpay touched her shoulder gently.

"Why?" She asked in a whiney voice.

"Daddy won't be around as much. That's all." Sharpay reached her arm out for a hug.

Madeline froze. This morning she had argued with her brother that their dad was only gone for the day and he would be back tonight just like always. But now her mom was telling that he wouldn't be around as much. What did that mean? It didn't sound like that was what she wanted to hear. She didn't want to believe that. Her dad had told her that he might go see her tonight and she was really looking forward to it.

"Why?" She cried.

"Haven't you noticed that your father doesn't love me anymore?" Sharpay asked feeling like she needed to let all her stress out again.

She had to yell everything out to someone, she just wasn't sure whom, but right now Madeline was here and it seemed like she's the only one she can really go off on. She didn't want to tell everyone about this separation with Troy, that'll just get ugly. It's already looking pretty bad just between their family.

"No! Daddy always told me that he loves you!" Madeline cried.

Sharpay smacked her hand on her face. Great. Now her daughter was practically yelling at her. This was way too much for less than twenty-four hours! Why couldn't Troy deal with this? Why would he be telling Madeline that he loved her when Sharpay could tell that he was also getting sick of her.

"Daddy said YOU didn't love him." Madeline stood up with tears in her eyes.

"No—that's not true!" Sharpay exclaimed.

She couldn't believe Troy would say that! Sure she's been telling him non-stop that she didn't love him, but he didn't have to tell their daughter about it—or their son! He could have kept it to himself. Sharpay never told any of the kids that she had a feeling Troy didn't love her anymore, until now anyways.

"Then why isn't daddy coming back?" Madeline ran out of the room.

Sharpay ran after her with a huge confusion in her mind. She never imagine for this to happen. She didn't think it would be so hard on the kids. Now she had Daniel who refused to say a word to her and Madeline who's starting to blame her for everything.

_'It's not my fault that your damn father is lying to me and cheating on me and who knows what else he's doing behind my back! I can't keep on living with that! I don't care if my heart still says I love him—I'm forcing myself not to! I can't be in love with a jerk! I'm sick and tired of Troy and I wanted him gone! Now that he's gone why can't I just live the life I imagined? Everything would be fine and happy and I wouldn't have Troy going off sneaking around with who ever he sneaks around with! That idiot. I should have never married him in the first place! Or even went out with him! It wasn't my fault that WE both loved each other then! Now we don't and I can't take everything back.'_ Sharpay thought feeling fume rushed to her head.

"MADELINE!" Sharpay yelled trying to open the bedroom door.

"I don't want to talk!" Madeline cried.

"You don't understand what's going on Madeline!" Sharpay yelled through the door.

"Yes I do! Daniel's right! You don't love ANYONE!" Madeline cried kicking the door.

"That's not true. I love you. I love Daniel," Sharpay wiped her forehead.

"No you don't! You told me you loved daddy and you don't!" Madeline cried even more.

Sharpay felt herself collapse down on the floor. She had never had Madeline so mad at her before. This was really a huge change and she felt like she just wanted to shut everyone out of her life and start over.

Daniel walked out of his room to see what was all the yelling now. Sharpay sighed and turned away from the wall. Tomorrow, hopefully things would get better. Today was the first day and everyone was just shocked. That was all.

_

* * *

In the next chapter, there will be a lot of drama going on, with Troy—then Sharpay—then Chad and you'll see. Then the truth starts to come out and things move quickly. You'll see!_


	6. Mistake?

The dinner was quiet and cold. Madeline and Daniel refused to try to get along and they both refuse to meet their mom's glance. It drove Sharpay crazy, thinking that this was never going to end. If she had to, at this moment she would ship the kids to Troy, wherever he was. They were really driving her mad.

"I'm done." Daniel spoke putting his fork down.

"Me too," Madeline slammed her sliver wears down on the table.

"Go wash up." Sharpay said not looking up from her plate.

She heard Daniel and Madeline walk away, leaving her alone again. She had never felt so alone in her whole entire life. Everything felt empty and she just wanted someone to care for her. Someone who would love her forever and always wants the best for her. Just that one perfect person—ten maybe she wouldn't feel empty and lonely. Or maybe she could have looked passed the negativities and see that Troy had been that perfect person all along. She was far too busy trying to win and prove every argument right that she never took the time to look at how much Troy had given up for her, and she will take the time to look at it that way.

"Troy." She ran her fingers through her hair.

The home phone ringing interrupted her disappointment. She groaned. She didn't want to talk to _anyone_. She walked over towards the phone and looked at the caller ID. The number was unfamiliar, but she picked up the phone and answered it.

"Hello?" Sharpay answered.

"Hi, Sharpay. This is Gabriella Montez. Just need to speak with Troy for a little bit." Gabriella's voice came through the phone.

"He's not here." Sharpay spoke disgusted.

Just as she had suspected.

"Oh well—could you ask him for me if I can take a one week vacation? My fiancé and need to take some time off and just spend time with each other before our wedding. "Gabriella explained.

"Your fiancé?" Sharpay asked.

_'Wouldn't she get plenty of alone time with him once they're married?'_ She thought.

She had no idea Gabriella had a boyfriend, well aside from her theory of Troy and Gabriella. There could have been a possibility that Gabriella cheated on her fiancé anyways.

"Yeah, Steve. Remember him? You know him." Gabriella said excitedly, though Sharpay could not see her, she could tell she had a smirk on.

Sharpay's eyes widened. She knew for a fact that Gabriella would never cheat on Steve as they have been together since way before Gabriella sat foot in East High. Sharpay had remembered thinking of Gabriella as liar because of how much she talked about Steve, her boyfriend of seventh grade. They had a four-year long distance relationship ever since High School and until they both graduated. No one believed for them to stay together, no one even believed that Gabriella had this so-called boyfriend. After they graduated, they bought an apartment somewhere together. Sharpay thought they broke up since Gabriella appeared back in New Mexico and hadn't really said much about Steve. Guess she was dead wrong.

"Oh. Well, congrats." Sharpay spoke lost in space.

"Thank you. I'll see you around. Don't forget to tell Troy." Gabriella let out a yawn.

"Yeah. Bye." Sharpay said pressing the end key on the phone.

She pressed talk on the phone and dialed Troy's cell number. She needed to talk to him. The phone kept on ringing and ringing. It finally stopped ringing and went to Tory's voicemail. Sharpay closed her eyes waiting for Troy's voicemail to get to the beep.

Beep.

"Hey Troy. It's me, Sharpay. I just need to talk to you about—well Gabriella. Call me back when you can." Sharpay left the message and put the phone down.

* * *

"What happened though?" Chad asked Troy.

"She's just assuming that I'm out with some girl—particularly Gabriella." Troy answered.

"I don't understand why you married her. I told Chad she was trouble. She was trouble from the very beginning. I never liked her. Now look what she's done." Taylor smirked sitting next to Chad.

Troy frowned at Taylor's comment. He will never understand why Taylor had such a huge fit towards Sharpay. She never did anything to her. They never even spoke to each other. It didn't make sense to him, just like many things.

"Because I love her. That's why." Troy spoke.

"Why though?" Taylor asked.

"Haven't you ever met someone who just complete very missing pieces of you? When you meet them they just seem like the right person. When I'm with Sharpay I feel like everything is in place. It's not a describable feeling. I just love her—very much." Troy answered.

"You can't keep on loving her. She kicked you out of your house Just let her go. Maybe she's the one cheating on you." Chad said.

Troy shook h is head. Sharpay would never do that. She was at home all the time with the kids and Troy just knew she wasn't like that. He trusted her. Their split was his fault. Not hers.

"You never know." Taylor agreed with Chad.

"No. I know Sharpay." Troy stood up.

Everyone in the room grew quiet. Chad was trying to think of a way to get Troy to just forget about Sharpay. It wasn't going to get him anywhere if he kept on thinking that he still had a place in Sharpay heart. Chad knew very well and so did Taylor that there was no place for Troy in there at all. From what they've heard, Sharpay's gone insane.

"I'll talk to Sharpay." Taylor said after Troy left the room.

Chad nodded and patted her leg.

* * *

Sharpay changed into her sleeping wear and sat on her bed. She had been waiting for Troy to call her back. She wanted to talk to him and get a few things settled with.

"Mommy…" Madeline opened the door slowly.

Sharpay looked her way and waved her hand to let her know that it was all right for her to come in. Madeline closed the door behind her and sat on the bed looking scared.

"What's wrong?" Sharpay asked.

"I'm scared. Daniel won't talk to me." Madeline answered crawling closer to Sharpay.

"Don't worry. He just has a lot of things in his mind." Sharpay pulled her in for a hug.

"Can I sleep here?" Madeline asked.

Sharpay nodded and pulled the comforter up for Madeline to crawl underneath. Tonight had been so insane that Madeline didn't want to go to her recital anymore and Sharpay gladly accepted it. She wasn't in the mood to do anything after all the drama today and yesterday. She had enough of it. Yesterday was worst; the first day without Troy and the kids just went crazy. Today was a little better, only because the kids were at school most of the time. Daniel still hadn't really spoke to Sharpay, Madeline had sort of calmed down. She was still scared, but it was starting to ware off.

"Come one. Go to sleep. School tomorrow." Sharpay said in a whisper.

"Night mommy." Madeline said snuggling under the covers.

"Good night." Sharpay turned off the lights.

The room grew quiet and very dark. Sharpay laid awake, thinking of where her life was headed to and when would be the next time he could talk or see Troy. Her mind kept on playing games with her. She loved not having to argue with Troy every second. She loved how she didn't have to deal with him every day. It really took a lot of stress out of her. But, there were those stupid little things she already missed. His soft kiss, his cheesy grin…. hearing him hum in the shower making her irritated when she couldn't concentrate on her magazines. The way Troy always opened the front door and wiped his feet on the ground. How she always had to pick up after him So many little things that Sharpay never cared for. All the things that annoyed her, she missed. Her mind kept on going around in circles.

* * *

Sharpay walked in the grocery store looking for some lunch food for the kids. Daniel had informed her that they were out of ham and he needed them for lunch, so did Madeline. She planned for a quick visit just to be in-and-out of the store, and then she would go pick the kids up from school. It was really hard being the only parent having to care for both kids at the same time.

She walked down the isle, walking past a couple lip locking in the middle of the section. Sharpay threw on a grossed out look and grabbed two packs of ham.

"Get a room." She hissed, as the couple broke apart.

"Sharpay?" The man spoke.

"Troy?" Sharpay said.

"You know each other?" The woman who Sharpay had no idea who she was asked in shocked.

"Yeah. She's my ex-wife." Troy simply said.

"…Excuse me?" Sharpay narrowed her eyes.

They haven't been apart for more than three days! They were still legally married.

"Well. Well." The woman spoke.

"What are you doing here?" Troy asked eyeing her.

"Getting lunches for the kids," Sharpay answered showing him the ham.

"Oh yeah. The kids. Say hi to Madison and David for me. Troy smiled.

Sharpay narrowed her eyes lower. He'd already forgotten the kid's names and he's already making out with some woman in public? It's only been three days!

"It's _Madeline_ and _Daniel_." Sharpay corrected.

Troy's face became straight. He held onto his "girlfriend" tighter and pulled her in for a long kiss. Sharpay felt herself want to throw up right on the spot. How could Troy do this in front of her? Was he that cruel? Did he already hate her that much?

"I'll see you around Troy," Sharpay said not being able to bare the make-out scene she had to watch.

"Yeah. See you. I'll be home tonight." Troy called after her.

Sharpay turned around. Who said he was welcome back to the house already? After what he was doing, there was no way he was going to be able to set foot in the house. No way.

"I don't think so Troy." She said walking away.

Troy grabbed her arm and pulled her into a deep kiss. Sharpay couldn't resist and began to kiss him back.

"See you." Troy broke the kiss.

"Wait. Troy! Troy!" She called after him.

Sharpay rushed after him, looking around for the woman Troy was just with. She seemed to have disappeared.

"Troy! Troy!" Sharpay screamed.

Troy turned around and walked back towards her. He placed his hand on her cheek and rubbed them softly.

"Troy." Sharpay whispered closing her eyes. "Do you still love me?" Her voice quacked.

Troy softly laid his lips against hers. The kiss was so soft and sweet, Sharpay was about to meld.

"I do love you. But you don't love me anymore." Troy broke the kiss.

"No. Troy." Sharpay reached for him.

"You come back to me, when you're ready." Troy turned back around and the woman appeared again, waiting for him.

"No! Troy! Troy! TROY!" Sharpay cried.

"Mommy! Mommy!" Madeline shook her mom's shoulder with fear in her eyes.

"Huh?" Sharpay jolted from her sleep.

Her hair was all over her sweaty face.

Madeline stared at her, horrified and looked like she was about to cry. Her body was shaking from the cold and from the fear.

"You were screaming daddy's name." Madeline cried.

"What?" Sharpay breathe turning her lampshade on to find Madeline looking really frightened.

"Are you having a nightmare?" Madeline crawled closer towards her.

"Oh, no. No." She kissed Madeline's forehead and then wiped her face.

"You're making me scared." Madeline hugged her.

"I'm sorry." Sharpay breathe heavily.

"What's going on?" Madeline asked while Sharpay wrapped her arms around her tightly.

"Nothing. Go back to bed, honey." Sharpay said turning the lights back off and laying back down.

Her forehead was still sweaty and her heart was beating fast. That was one creepy dream. It didn't even make any sense, but it seemed so real.

"Mommy?" Madeline asked snuggling closer to her.

"Yeah?" Sharpay answered.

"When's daddy coming back?" She asked so softly.

"I don't know." Sharpay bit her lip.

"I miss him. Do you?" Madeline asked.

Sharpay closed her eyes and shrugged. She didn't have an answer for that.

"Mommy?" Madeline called.

"Go back to sleep."Sharpay spoke keeping her eyes close and sounding very tired.

Madeline didn't make a move or say anything after that. Sharpay tired to sleep but she was afraid she would have a dream like that again. It seemed far too real. Troy's touch and kiss She brought her hand over her lips and rubbed her cheeks, where Troy had touched her in her dreams. It felt so real, she didn't even believe it was a dream.

"I just need to talk to someone about this. That's all. I'm just going through this because of the way things are going. I'm not use to this. I'll get use to it and understand that it's the best thing. No more worries about Troy." Sharpay said to herself trying to stay calm.

_

* * *

Okay. Glad to have this chapter up! I'm trying to update my stories as much as I can, but so many stories pop into my mind and I want to start another one. I got a story (as I mentioned in Together) in my head and I started taking down some notes for it. I think it'll turn out to be a good story. But I need your help. Which of these names do you like?_

**Evelyn**

**Emily**

**Emma**

**Monica**

**Sarah**

**Olivia**

**Katie**

_Pick one! And only one! I really need your help. So let me know!_


	7. Busy

Troy sat in his room glancing at his beeping cell phone that he had been too lazy to pick up. He didn't hear it ring, but he kept on hearing it beep. Telling him he had a new message. It was all the way across the room and he was too comfortable on the bed. The beep was already ringing in his head making him get annoyed.

"Damn it." He spat getting up to grab his phone.

He flipped it open and almost dropped it. He couldn't believe he had missed a call from his house line. It could have been Sharpay begging him to come back, or the kids telling him how much they missed him. It wasn't too late. He called his voicemail right away to check the message. It was Sharpay. He listened to the message, happy to hear her voice again. Disappointment suddenly came to him as soon as he heard her mention Gabriella's name and how she wanted to talk to him about her. That only meant that she was going to nag him about her more. It became obvious to Troy that she couldn't bare to be away from him—because she couldn't yell at him. Yelling at him seemed to be her favorite thing to do.

"She probably just wants to accuse me of more cheating." He sighed saving the voicemail.

He didn't know when would be the next time he would be able to hear her again. At least he had this message, so he if he needed to hear her, he could just play it over and over again. He could also watch that video he took of Sharpay in his phone from when they were in High School, when all those rumors about them going out were just spreading. He still had that video of her singing on stage, eating grapes, and writing. All these years he kept on transferring the video to his new phones so he would have it forever. To this day, Sharpay still has no idea he took that video. He never imagined back then that he would still, to this day have the video—he didn't even imagine himself with Sharpay.

"My life is screwed." He muttered to himself.

It was only his second day/night away from her and he already felt guilty. His mind made him blame himself for everything. Sure, there was a large possibility that this whole thing was completely all his fault, but it wasn't for the reason Sharpay concluded with. She made it specific that she didn't trust him with anything. She never believed him and she just didn't want to get along with him anymore. He had a very rough life ahead of him, a life he didn't see coming.

He needed a new place to live in, and basically a new life. He begged Taylor to not say a word to Sharpay since she kept on telling him that she would have a work with her. He didn't want her too, knowing she would just make things worst by saying something harsh. She would probably end up telling Sharpay that Troy had forgotten about her, anything to get on Sharpay's bad side. That was what Taylor liked to do, as Troy had noticed over the past few days.

**Two Weeks Later: **

"Madeline, are you ready yet?" Sharpay looked at her watch trying to get the kids out of the house.

"Yeah! I just need my jacket!" Madeline said running down the stairs.

Daniel was already in the car, bored. He'd been bored a lot and just lay around doing nothing most of the time.

"Come on! You're going to be late!" Sharpay showed her out of the door and to the car.

Madeline got in the car and seated herself. Sharpay started the car and drove out of the driveway. Every morning the kids, mainly Madeline always lagged to get to school. They just loved to do that and it made them really close to being late. There were days where Sharpay really had to just go beyond the speed limit and get the kids to school on time.

The car ride was quiet the first few minutes just like always. Until one of the kids break the silence.

"Are you taking me to basketball practice?" Daniel asked.

Sharpay bit her bottom lip. That was one thing she never thought she'd be doing. It use to be always loud and never quiet with Troy and Daniel always talking about new moves for basketball and then Sharpay and Madeline with their whole conversation about the dance coming up. The car really felt like it was vibrating from all the over-lapping conversations.

"Uhh. What time?" She answered glancing at the rear view mirror.

"Three." Daniel answered straight up.

Sharpay thought about his answer and tried to think of her whole day schedule. She was not up for the idea of sitting through basketball practice with her son; she was the one who didn't do that. That's Troy's job, her job is to take Madeline to her dance—that was it. It worked out perfectly. She liked dancing/singing, so did Madeline. Troy liked basketball and sports so did Daniel. Now Sharpay had to divide her time for both he kids in taking them places.

"Oh. You have practice on a Friday?" Sharpay asked with a smirk on her face.

Daniel just nodded and looked at her with his basketball on his lap. That was his usual position, always with a basketball, just like Troy. Crazy how their family fit so perfectly and yet they couldn't get along.

"I don't know if I can. Do I have to stay?" She said with a very not so interested voice.

"Umm—it would be nice. Because then you'll forget about me and never pick me up." Daniel answered patting his basketball.

"I have to take Madeline to her dance at two-thirty. Then I have some stuff to do afterwards. Don't you want to go see your dad or something? Ask him to take you." Sharpay said trying to not sound like she didn't care for what her son did.

"Always Madeline. And I can't ask dad. I don't even talk to him. I don't even know where he's at." Daniel rolled his eyes.

Sharpay stopped the car in front of the stoplight and laid her eyes on her son. She gave him a warning look. Letting him know to never say that ever. She didn't like it when people were rude to her, especially her own child.

"You're mean!" Madeline stuck her tongue out from the backseat.

"You're a brat." Daniel shot at her.

"No I'm not!" Madeline whined.

"Just keep it quiet! I don't want to hear it." Sharpay butted in unlocking the car door.

She was in front of the school already and she couldn't wait to have some time to herself. They were really starting to drive her out of her mind. She had so many things to do it was stressing her out even more.

"Mommy, I don't want to go to school." Madeline whined while Daniel opened the car door and walked out.

"You're going to school." Sharpay said unlocking the car once more to let her out.

Madeline sat still giving her a frown. It was one of those look she gave her when she "didn't" feel well. It was so fake.

"Please, honey. I need go." Sharpay tried to get her out of the car.

"Please? I don't feel good. My head hurts." Madeline sniffed.

Daniel stood outside of the car waiting for his little sister to get out of the car. He felt like just leaving her since she was taking a really long time. He hated having to wait for her, but if he didn't she would just go on and tell on him about leaving her behind.

"Madeline—I got stuff to do. Seriously. I really have to go. I have an appointment—kind a." Sharpay said sitting back.

Madeline groaned at her and opened the door.

"Where are you going?" She asked before walking out.

"I just have stuff to do." Sharpay said as the door slammed shut and she drove off.

She was about to let Madeline go and tell her to stay with her, since she needed someone to stay with her anyways and keep her company while she went to go see Troy for the first time in two weeks. But she didn't want to get the little girl's hopes up since she's been going on about how her dad will come back soon and everything will be the same again. Because she wasn't going over to see Troy for that, she was going over to see him for all these legality stuff she has to deal with. Not something she was exactly looking forward to doing.

Her phone conversation with him was rather awkward. Between each word they said there was at least a twenty-second pause. They had nothing to say to each other but Troy giving her his address to his new apartment and the papers she needed to bring and whatever they had to discuss.

"Won't I have fun," She said with a sigh in the end driving on the freeway.

This wasn't something she really wanted to do. Her goal in life was to try to avoid him, but there was no way she could do that with the kids in her hands. Troy stated he wanted to see the kids every other weekend or so and she had to agree with that. They are his kids and she can't do anything to stop him from seeing them. He hasn't done anything harmful towards them or anything near. Sharpay just didn't want to have to see him every other weekend to drop the kids off or whatever.

The location of the apartment wasn't too far away, only about a ten-minute drive. Though Sharpay got lost trying to find the street. When she was in front of it and parked where Troy had told her to park, she sat in her car for a while not wanting to leave. She kept imagining how messy the place would be and how long it would take for them to actually have a conversation without an argument on board. Their phone conversation was pretty much all yelling except for the first few minutes when they were talking about filing papers, after that they got to the whole "I trust you, you don't trust me, you're a liar" sort of conversation.

"Why can't you just get out of my life?" Sharpay banged her head against her steering wheel.

She regretted doing that, now she had a major headache from the steering wheel pain and all the thoughts going on in her head.

Troy, sitting down in his apartment was thinking the same thing too. He didn't know what to expect. All he could think of was yelling—or really a really silent visit. There were only two options; he knew for a fact it wasn't going to be a normal, happy visit. It would be either loud or quiet. He had everything set up and ready so they could just get on with all the things they needed to do. He even picked up the place, though he didn't have a lot of stuff. He just moved in four days ago and it was still empty. He had one couch, a coffee table and a TV on top of a box filled with his stuff that he hadn't unpacked yet. His room had a mattress on the floor and some blankets. That was pretty much it. He had boxes everywhere. His kitchen only had a fridge and a stove that had papers on top of. The most organized room in the flat was the living room. Everything else was a mess and he knew Sharpay would give him a hard time about that.

"Where is she?" He asked walking around his living room.

Sharpay unlocked her car door and walked out, looking up at the apartment building where Troy was located.

_

* * *

I finally got this up! Geez. It took me a while! Sorry about that. I think you got the whole story of this chapter. I'm going to try to get the next chapter up soon, this week at least. I can't promise anything though. My schedule is crazy, at least for being only 14. Which means I know nothing about divorce and paper works and stuff, but I was reading this book about this girl and her cousin and how her parents got divorce and it kind a explains the whole process thing so I'm going to try to see what I can get out of that. Bare with me! Oh and please do review. _


	8. Visiting

Sharpay walked up the tiled stairs towards the third floor where Troy had told her, his apartment was located. It was cold walking up the empty stairs. Each step Sharpay took made her feel goose bumps go up her body. The only noise in the whole entire place were her heals clicking against the clean tiles. The apartment wasn't bad at all. It looked pretty decent and organized for someone whose never lived in an apartment before. It looked very spacious and clean.

The white door was closed firmly and Sharpay stood in front of it, staring at the chrome numbers glistening in her eyes. It started to take her fears away from facing Troy once more. She took a deep breath and carefully placed her finger to the yellow glowing button. It didn't even take one full ding for the door to slowly creek open and Troy stood out looking very tired. He looked like he had just gotten out of bed with his messy hair and half closed eyes. It was still early anyways, he got up only twenty minutes ago to get the place picked up and ready for Sharpay. After napping on the couch for five minutes, he looked really dead. His brain was still asleep. Everything in him was still sleeping, even his wide-open dreamy eyes wanted to shut.

"Morning." The word escaped from Troy's lips very softly, almost as if he was trying to not wake someone up from their restful nap.

"Morning." Sharpay repeated letting herself inside the flat.

She looked around, smelling paint everywhere. Her nose wrinkled from the foul smell, but decided to not fuss about it now. It was much to early and she had only stepped in the place for a minute.

"Over here." Troy showed her the living room couch with papers all over the coffee table.

Sharpay sat down and placed her folder on her lap. Troy sat across from her and started to look through the papers. Neither one of them knew exactly what to do. They were here to talk about something; they just didn't know what exactly that something is.

"How do you want to do this? Every other weekend, Christmas, Thanksgiving, Spring Break, Summer? What?" Troy asked reading the options they had and tapping her hand to read it over.

"Every other summer? You live ten minutes away! I don't think the kids need to be here for a whole summer!" Sharpay exhaled.

"Who said I was going to be staying here forever? I'm going to move out—in a little while. I'm on a month-to-month contract. I can leave anytime. I'm going to New York next month. Just to look for a town house or a bigger apartment. I'll be there during spring break for the kids. So I can take them?" Troy asked hanging her some papers, his hand brushing against hers gently.

"No! You can't move to New York! That's too far away. I'm not going to drive there every other weekend—it'd take me longer than the whole weekend just to get there! And I'm not having them fly down there—alone. You can't take them with you either. I'm going to visit my parent, and my parents will want to see my kids too." Sharpay exclaimed slamming her pen on the table angrily.

"They'd want to go to New York. It'll be fun. You can come too, if you want—as long as you don't—well I need to see the kids. I haven't seen them in a long time. I need to see Daniel and Madeline too you know. They are my kids too—unless if there's something I should know." Troy narrowed his eyes to her.

What Chad told him about the possibility of Sharpay cheating on him during the past started to get to him. Maybe she did cheat on him—for all he knew his kids might not be his! It was a possibility—sort of. Only Daniel looked like him and Madeline looked a lot like Sharpay with his eyes, so maybe it wasn't possible either.

"**_What?_** Now you're accusing me? Oh let me tell you Troy—they're both yours." Sharpay said in a cold tone.

If they weren't his she wouldn't even bother to be here doing all of this custody stuff with him. Plus how could Troy even get the idea that his kids weren't his? He's the only man she's been with since high school.

"How am I supposed to know? You're the one concluding that I'm cheating on you. You're the one who kicked me out of the house! There's a big possibility that _you're_ the one cheating on me!" Troy said in a high tone.

"How can I cheat on you? I'm at home all daylong Troy! I have nothing to do in the house! I can't do anything! You got me trapped inside all day with the kids. Why do you think I'm getting sick and tired of my life? I can't just live a life of nothing. I want to do things too. I wanted to be a music teacher, but no. You won't let me leave the house. There's more to my life than just sitting inside cleaning after you and the kids!" Sharpay narrowed her eyes in an angry mode.

"What do you want to do with your life? Party all the time and not worry about anything? That's all you want to do. Well guess what? You have responsibilities to do. You have kids. You can't party like you're still in high school anymore. Get use to it!" Troy shot back at her.

Sharpay gave him a mad glare. He was starting to get in her again. She wanted to slap him right away. All she wanted was some freedom besides being a stay at home mom doing nothing. And she was tired of him sneaking around all the time. Troy was the one always partying and acting like he didn't have to do anything. He was the one always out with his friends, coming home late and doing whatever he does.

"And you don't go off with your friends to hang out Troy? I spend more time with the kids than you! I know more about them that you! You're never home. You're always 'I'm going here—be back later'. No! I don't care Troy. You're out with whomever and you don't let me out of the house! I want to do my own things. I want to be able to go out too and not have to worry about cooking dinner. And I know that I have responsibilities, so do you!" Sharpay snapped.

Just as Troy had suspected. They weren't getting along. Now he didn't get why she couldn't just tell him that she wanted to do her own thing. He would have let her, she was her own person. She could do whatever. He wasn't trapping her inside. He was the one who worked and she stayed at home. It seemed okay to him.

"I think I'm doing my job. You have everything you could possibly want. Daniel has everything. Madeline has more than everything!" Troy spoke.

"It's not just about the stuff we have Troy. I want someone who actually cares about me and loves me. You're just not that person." Sharpay said in a lower tone.

"I'm sorry I'm not. I thought I was." He said quietly.

Sharpay just sat still. She didn't have another comment to say. This argument was making their meeting take longer and she wanted it to end already. She was getting annoyed of being in the same room with Troy again. When they lived together, she couldn't sit still in the same room as him or she'd end up making a huge fuss about how he's getting on her nerves.

Troy wanted to make a remark but thought about keeping it to himself. It would only make things worst and they wouldn't get anywhere. He did love her and he did care for her, she just wanted to find someone REALLY perfect. There was no way she was going to find someone oh-so perfect. Then again, maybe she will. He just felt broken as soon as she said that he wasn't that person. He knew that there was always a whole in his heart from the previous things she's said, but now he was shattered inside.

"Let's just get on with this." He spoke in a low tone signing a paper.

Sharpay signed the paper too and then read a few others to make sure she was doing the right thing. She felt like she needed someone who knew all these things to help her. Maybe a lawyer? She didn't want to make some mistake.

"Shouldn't we get a lawyer?" She asked.

Troy just shrugged. What did they need a lawyer for? Would they need separate lawyers or what? He didn't know anything about this.

"Do you want to legally get divorce?" He asked not even believing himself.

He didn't want that to happen.

"Umm—I don't think that's a good idea right now." She answered.

That was good to hear. They were getting rid of each other really fast and it was probably best if they took their time and not rush so much. Rushing will just get them in the wrong path again.

"All you need to do is read this and sign it. I'll get the kids every other weekend, and I want to start this weekend if you don't mind. Maybe you can take them here tomorrow morning? Since they have Monday off, I can just take them back to you Monday afternoon." Troy said.

Sharpay nodded and picked up her papers. Her hands were starting to hurt from all the singing she'd been doing and her brain was definitely aching for all the reading. Her throat was hurting from all the yelling and arguing with Troy. Every little part of her body was aching.

"I think we each need a lawyer. We have kids involve in this." She said standing up.

"What would they do?" Troy asked.

"Plan out everything, since we both obviously don't know what to do or what we're doing." Sharpay answered.

Troy nodded and gathered everything. They went through every paper they owned and read every word it said. Neither one of them had ever read so much and signed so many papers in their whole entire life.

"You know I'm not liking this." Sharpay said before making her way out of the door.

"Not liking what? Me living here or signing the papers?" Troy asked not getting what she meant.

"Both." She answered walking away.

Troy stared at her image disappearing down the hall with a blank expression. Sharpay confused him a lot and made him wonder. It was so hard to get what she was trying to say and she never tried her best to explain anything, which left you hanging half the time. Most of the time she just walks away living you completely clueless, sometimes she sits there and talks to you about it. Troy thought her favorite thing to do was to play with him, she always left him confuse. Always. She liked to play with him too, one minute she acts like she misses him, the next she goes on about how awesome her life is without him.

"I will never understand her. Never." He shook his head closing the door.

Sharpay walked to her. Those were the worst two hours of her whole entire life. She couldn't have been any happier to be out of the place. It was getting stuffy and she was too close to Troy. It drove her crazy being that close to him after being so far apart from him for so long. She hated the feeling of his touch. She kept on feeling him brush his hand onto hers telling her where to sign. Or when he tapped her on the shoulder. It made her shiver and she hated the feeling. She kept on staring at the clock wondering when she would be able to get out of the place and go do her own thing.

_

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Weeeeee! Another chapter done……Hehe.. Oh and for you guys who's been reading my other story, In Her Eyes, I just wanted to know, are you liking the story so far? Because I don't think a lot of people like it and I kind a want to delete, but then again I don't because I have a lot of parts for it written down….so I just wanted to see how many people liked it or not. Because the reviews I'm getting aren't really that much, so it got me wondering. _


	9. Talk

The day was practically half over and it felt like it was taking forever for the time to just move one single second. Sharpay was getting very impatient, waiting for the day to just be over. It had been beyond a long day and it wasn't near over yet. Sharpay had many things to go to and she wasn't looking forward to any of them. She had to pick Madeline up first from school and then dropped her off at her dance class. Today would be the firs time ever she wasn't going to be attending one of Madeline's dance practice.

"Have fun honey—I'll pick you up in two hours, okay? I have to go keep Daniel company at his basketball practice. I'll be back. You know my cell number if you get scared." Sharpay kissed her daughter good-bye.

Madeline nodded and understood why her mom chose to go stay with Daniel instead of her. Daniel was being all moody today about how their mom never spent time with him. Now they had to share one parent and it was really hard.

"Bye." Madeline hugged her mom before running off to her dance classmates.

Sharpay walked back to her and drove back towards the school to see if Daniel was out of class yet. Madeline got out a few minutes before he did, which made things a little hard, but not today. It worked out perfectly. Today, Daniel would skip his whole basketball practice thing instead. Sharpay was going to take me for a little ride—it was mainly for her, but she felt like she needed to bring her son along just so he understood what was going on. Madeline wouldn't understand any of it and if she found out, she would only freak out again. Daniel was the older one who understood things just a little better.

Daniel waited by the bench patiently and looked around the parking lot for his mom's car. He really did take after Troy; he was more of the patient one out of Sharpay or Madeline. As soon as he spotted the familiar car, he walked to the front seat and got seated in. He wasn't much of a talker, lately anyways. After Troy left he didn't do the same things he did, except for playing basketball. He hardly ever walked out of his room and it bugged Sharpay a lot. She wanted to bring that up with Troy earlier, hoping maybe he could do something to help, only she didn't want Troy to think she was a bad parent.

"How was school?" Sharpay tried to bring up some conversation.

She hated the quietness her son has been giving her these past few weeks. Daniel always used to talk all the time, now it felt like Sharpay had to pull words out of him every time she was near him! Madeline didn't change much, Sharpay didn't find that surprising either, she's a six-year-old; she doesn't really get everything that's going on around her.

"Okay." He shrugged.

Sharpay nodded.

"Anything new or exciting you learned to today?" She asked.

"No." Daniel answered quickly.

"Hmm…how are your friends?" Sharpay tried to think of a good question.

"Good." He answered.

"Are you going to do anything with them this weekend?" She asked.

"No. They're off with their mom or dad." Daniel answered.

"Oh. Madeline off to dance class." Sharpay spoke.

"Okay." Daniel nodded.

"Everything going good at school then?" She asked.

"I guess." He answered looking out the window.

"That's good. You barely talk to me now, what's up?" She asked patting his shoulder.

"I don't know. I don't have anything to say." He answered.

"Oh." Sharpay nodded her head slowly.

"Aren't you going to take me to my basketball practice?" Daniel asked when he noticed his mom driving the complete opposite way of the location of his practice.

"No. Not today. I have other things to do and you need to come with me." Sharpay answered.

Daniel gave her an upset look. He didn't care what she had to do, he wanted to play basketball. He knew his mom knew how much he liked basketball; she couldn't let him miss a day of it! This was very important to him; it wasn't something he could skip whenever he felt like it. He always took his dad's words about basketball; never let your team down. He wanted to be just like his dad, the team captain and he was on his way to making that goal come true by being at every single practice on time and practicing every chance he got. And his mom was about to ruin that for him by taking him somewhere else "important". He would throw off on his mom, but they weren't in a good path right now and that would just make everything else complicated.

"What?" He asked looking at her direction.

She just gave him a nod and kept her eyes on the road. It wasn't the perfect time to explain everything at the very moment. The road was starting to get all turn-y and it was a little misty out too. It was horrible that the only friend lawyer she knew lived all the way back in the countryside—in the middle of nowhere. She could have gotten a random lawyer from the phonebook, only she felt like she really did to find the right guy for this and her friend seemed to be the only one to come to mind. There was one slight problem though; he was also a friend with Troy. That would make all of this a challenge, he might take Troy's side too and then they really wouldn't be getting anywhere.

"Where are we going?" Daniel asked tired of sitting in the car, driving around not knowing where he was going to end up.

"To see my friend, Richard." Sharpay answered finally tapping her fingers on the stirring wheel waiting for some deer to cross the road, or she'd end up hitting it.

Daniel's face turned into a sudden terrified look. He's never heard of some man named Richard, who happens to be his mom's friends. Did his mom already have a boyfriend? That would be far too soon, since it's only been two weeks since Troy left. He wished he could just call up his dad, or run up to him to tell him what was going on in their house now that he's been away. Anything to get his parents back together would be good. The image of his mom with another man, and his dad with another woman didn't seem right. Nothing seemed right without both his parents around.

"Who's he?" Daniel asked after a few minutes.

"He's a lawyer. He's going to help me and your dad, well with our situation anyways" Sharpay answered trying to put her words together.

"What? For what? Help, as in fixing your problem or some other help?" Daniel asked.

Sharpay fiddled with her wedding ring that she could not break the habit of not wearing. She really tried to go on a day without wearing it, but it felt so weird. She tried to put it in another finger just so it didn't mean the same. That didn't work either; she had to have the ring on—on the exact finger where Troy had placed it. For some strange reason, she just needed it with her all the time.

"Legal stuff." She answered.

Daniel scolded at her. He knew what that meant. Divorce. Not something he was looking for, but he sadly expected it. That was the last thing he wanted in his life. His parents to get a divorce, then he and Madeline would be bounced around from one parent to another. He had a feeling of how that felt since his friends were always complaining about it. They never got to have a regular weekend since one weekend with be with their dad and he would want to hang out and do stuff, then the next weekend would be with their mom and she would want to go out and do stuff. Daniel had heard his friends complain plenty of times that they never have time just to play on weekends. They were always telling him how lucky he was to have his parents together—now he was in the same situation as them and it really did put a lot of pressure on someone.

"You need to understand that your dad and I are not going to get back together. I have to get all of this settled before things get any crazier. You and Madeline can visit him every other weekend—he can visit anytime. But we need to get all the custody papers going." Sharpay explained backing a sharp turn.

"Why do you and dad have to do this? Why can't you just stay together? What's the stupid problem anyways? Mom! Face it, life sucks without dad and you know it!" Daniel said angrily.

Sharpay shivered at his words. She hated having to explain everything to the kids! They never understood anything anymore! It wasn't easy telling them everything she knew, there were some things she he had to keep to herself. But it would be hard to understand the whole story—without knowing the whole story. You would need to hear every detail of it and it wasn't easy explaining every detail. There were some details that the kids didn't need to know about—at least not right now.

"Daniel—things aren't working out. I'm tired of living a world of lies. I'm sick of your dad nagging me all the time, okay? I don't like where my life is going with your dad. He's not making anything easy. He thinks he can just go off with who ever he wants to while I'm stuck inside the house with you and Madeline all the time. I need some space. I don't want to be locked up and I don't want to be played with. I want my own life. I have my dreams. I'm not a stupid toy!" Sharpay uttered out angrily forgetting she was talking to her nine-year-old son.

"A toy? Dad would have let you done whatever you wanted. You could have just talked to him about it—nicely! Instead of yelling at him for every little thing!" Daniel exclaimed.

"There are a lot of things you and your sister don't know about your dad. And it's not something you two should know right now—just please don't give me a hard time about this honey. I'm trying to make this as easy for you and Madeline. I need you to just simply go along with me. It'll make everything simple. Please." Sharpay said pulling into a house with trees all around it.

"It's not going to be easy." Daniel spoke.

"I know. But try to. Look, you and Madeline can could see your dad tomorrow and stay there for the whole weekend if you want." Sharpay said.

She was planning on telling Daniel that after she got done talking to Richard about everything, but she knew it would make her son feel a lot better knowing that he was going to be able to see his dad again.

"How do you know he'd let us?" He asked doing his little questioned look.

"I spoke to him today." Sharpay answered taking the keys off the ignition.

"When?" Daniel asked with a very curious tone.

He wasn't sure if his mom had been talking to his dad all this time and never told him. That would have really made him upset.

"Today—earlier. I went over to his new apartment to talk about a few things." Sharpay answered honestly.

"Today? You saw dad?" Daniel questioned.

"Yeah. I did." Sharpay answered guilty.

"Why didn't you tell me you knew where he's been all this time? Or that you had his number all this time?" Daniel asked sounding angry again.

"Because—I wasn't ready to communicate with him. He called me to ask me if I could come over and get some stuff out of the way. I didn't want to, but I had to." Sharpay answered.

"You should have told me!" Daniel exclaimed.

"Come on." Sharpay changed the subject and unlocked the car door.

* * *

_Troy wasn't in this chapter, sadly. Madeline was barely in it too. It's mainly just Sharpay and Daniel since Daniel isn't really too happy with her. It was kind a important for Sharpay to spend some alone time with her son. Hehe. _


	10. Cold

"All you really need are these and a few other things. Just have a little chat with Troy and you two can settle all of this, unless if you need me to be the messenger with you two?" Richard handed Sharpay a few papers.

She thought about it for a moment. She wasn't sure if she wanted someone to be the messenger between she and Troy or if she could just talk to him like today. It wasn't that bad talking to him, and she thought it was probably better if she talked to him herself that way they were sure to get each other's comment, word for word, and not being changed by the person in the middle. She's always heard the saying that you could never really trust anyone. For all she knew, Richard could change whatever Troy was saying or whatever she was saying. He could say something sweet to one another or something harsh, depending if he wanted them to be together or not. From what Sharpay could sense, he wasn't too happy hearing about them splitting up, but he didn't show too much of it though. When Sharpay first told him why she needed him, she could tell he was very upset with her news.

The way he was stuttering his words when she asked if there was an easy way to this separation or not. And when she asked about how long until they could get a full on divorce, Richard looked like he didn't want to give her an answer, but he had too. It was his job and he didn't have a choice. Sharpay didn't want to force him to tell her, but she really needed to know!

"Oh no, it's fine. I think I handle talking to Troy. As long as it's not for more than an hour," She smiled.

"Well then, you take care of you that and let me know." He said with a nod.

"So this will do then? Everything's fine?" Sharpay asked picking up her belongings.

She looked over at Daniel and then back at Richard who handed her one last piece of paper. She really hated all of the paper works that came along with the whole dilemma. There were too many to keep and she was too scared that she would loose one important paper and be screwed forever. She tried her best to keep everything in one folder, but she always felt like she was missing something. All the papers were important too, she didn't want to go through them all, but at one point she knew she was going to have to actually read them all, word for word and then memorize them!

"Oh yes, everything is fine. I'll give you a call later this week and get everything going," Richard smiled petting his fat lazy cat.

"Great. And maybe you could give me some pointers on the whole agreement thing. I think I need a few more info about that," She smiled looking over to where Daniel was watching—the news. Which was very unusual. Daniel wasn't the type of person who Sharpay ever believed would watch the news unless if it had anything to do with sports. He was addicted to sports, no doubt about it.

Sharpay knew very well that Daniel wasn't the one who turned the TV on to that channel; he would never in his dear life watch the news. Richard was also watching it too, so that explained it. Every time Sharpay said something, it looked like he wasn't paying attention at all, but he surprised her with actually answering her questions right. Even if he looked like he wasn't paying attention.

"Come on, Daniel. Time to go," She patted his shoulder, urging him to stand up. "I'll see you later," She shot Richard a small smile.

"Drive safely and take care!" He returned the smile.

"I will and tell your wife when she gets back I said and that I came by," Sharpay said before making her way closer to the door.

He was a good friend, well when it came to these things. Sharpay never talked to him really, she use to, every time Troy had his whole basketball-gathering thing. She never even thought of him one day to actually be helping her with something. To her, he looked like some lazy guy who sat around all day and ate ice cream, even if he was a lawyer, he looked nothing like one. He didn't even act like one. If Sharpay had never met him before and she ran into in public she would never guess he was lawyer. He looked more like a couch potato. The way he dressed didn't make him look like some successful person either. He also acted very childish and reminded Sharpay of a three-year-old.

"See you." He called after her walking out of his house.

The talk with Richard wasn't too bad. Sharpay actually got him all on her side, not that there was much to argue about anyways. The case was mainly just about trying to figure out how the whole child visiting was going to go with Troy across the counter and about how everything should go. Daniel looked very bored the whole time. He didn't pay any attention to whatever was going on and Sharpay was glad. She didn't need another one of his "You were wrong", corrections about Troy. If he heard all the bad things she was complaining about Troy, Daniel would probably have stuck up for Troy and accuse Sharpay of being the bad one. When the whole talking was over, Sharpay had to rush herself out of the place. She needed to beat time. She was so caught up with all the interesting facts that Richard was telling her, she lost track of time. Madeline was still at her dance thing, most likely bored of waiting to be picked up by now. She would also get very mad if she had to wait too long. It was only fair for Sharpay to rush herself, making sure he daughter didn't have to stand out in the dark, cold sky waiting, all alone.

"MOM! SLOW DOWN!" Daniel held onto the car handle feeling like he was going to die any second with his mom's rapid driving.

The fast driving was making him carsick and it got him scared too. There were so many sharp turns and it was a dark road with no houses around. Only trees and rocks. They were also way high up, which scared him a lot. The road was very narrow and a few cars would come flying out from the other side.

"MOM!" Daniel screamed.

"What?" She turned to look at her son who was screaming and freaking out of her driving.

A car coming from the other direction was speeding down the narrow turn point and slammed into the car. For a second Sharpay felt herself weaken and a bright light was all she could see. Everything began to grow cold and dark. The air was thick and heavy. Soon it was dead silence………

"Mom…Are you okay?" Daniel's voice came through the cold air.

"Yeah?" She opened her eyes realizing it was dark and misty.

"Are you okay?" He asked letting a loud breath.

"I'm fine?" Sharpay sat up feeling her hands suddenly warm up. A second ago it was freezing and now it was getting warmer and warmer.

There was no light outside and nothing could be seen except for the car's headlights glowing against a rocky hill that she had hit. Luckily, she didn't slam the car too hard on it, not causing a major damage to the car or to Daniel or to herself! She could tell Daniel was really worried, she was probably knocked out for a little while, she did feel a lot of hard pressure against her body and felt like shutting down, and luckily she didn't. She felt her head and no blood were found, which made her feel better. The last thing she wanted was to be hurt or to be injured.

"Are you okay?" His voice came again, only this time scared.

"I'm fine. Stop worrying." She smiled weakly searching for the key ignition.

"I love you."

"I love you too." Sharpay gave him a bigger smile. "That was scary."

Daniel nodded and sat back as Sharpay started to drive the car in reverse to get it back on the main road. She was still feeling a little scared and cold from what happened, even though she couldn't really remember it too well. All she remember was seeing the headlights of some speeding car and the next thing she knew she was waking up in the really pitch black night. All she was glad about was that she was alive and so was her son. Now she had to worry about picking up Madeline on time. She was really late—at least an hour late now and there was no signal anywhere in the area. It was making her frustrated, but she was able to calm herself down.

"Oh your poor sister," She sighed driving carefully, not wanting to have any more accident for the day.

"Try calling someone." Daniel suggested.

"I can't! No one will be able to get her and I only have one bar on my phone. I don't think I can get a good sig—" She paused knowing that she might be able to reach Troy.

She grabbed for her cell phone, which was on the cup holder. She searched for his number and waited for him to pick up. Of course, Troy didn't pick up!

"Your dad is a stupid idiot!" Sharpay groaned throwing her phone down between her legs.

She was finally on a main freeway, but to top off her night, it was bumper-to-bumper traffic! There was no way she was ever going to make this, and her night could not possibly get any worst!

"He's not stupid mom, he's probably busy or in the middle of something, or maybe he didn't hear the phone ring," Daniel said while shaking his head.

That was what annoyed Sharpay. Her own child giving her a lecture about Troy. It made her furious that she was the adult here and she shouldn't have to hear about all the teaching her son had for her.

"You really need to stop lecturing me about your dad! You don't know him as well as_ I_ know him! I've been with him longer than you have, so don't talk to me like you're someone older than me and much wiser. You're a child Daniel. I'm sorry you have to deal with this and it's making you upset, and I obviously know that you are on your dad's side, but you need to cut that out! I don't care if you're going to take his side, just keep it to yourself. Seriously. I know how it feels to have to deal with divorce—I know. My parents got divorce too and you know that. It's horrible yeah, but you'll get over it!" Sharpay exploded.

"Then why are you making me go through this? If you know how horrible it is, then why? You want me to suffer for your pain too?" Daniel asked looking down sounding like he was going to cry soon.

"No. I don't want you to suffer! It's not my fault that your dad can be a jerk. He's not what I expected. That's all. I don't know why, but my mind keeps telling me to hate him, and my heart really wants me to just leave him alone. He's not a bad person. He really isn't. And he's not all so good either. You know, as much as I try not to love your dad anymore, that's not going to happen. I won't be able to stop loving him, but I can keep myself from loving him. I can move on. It's better for me and it's better for your dad. It's just better if we aren't together." Sharpay explained staying calm this time.

"What about us? What about Madeline and I? What about what's better for us?" Daniel looked up.

All Sharpay could do was shake her head. She was done having this conversation. It was getting nowhere, like always. She wanted the best for her kids, and yeah, having the family together would be best, but it was also a bad example for the kids. They can't live in a place where their parents are always screaming and yelling at each other. It'll just make things worst than it already is.

Her cell phone began to ring and she quickly reached for it, knowing it was Troy.

"Hello?" She picked up.

"You called?" Troy said right away.

"And you didn't pick up—why?" Sharpay asked using the same tone he was using.

"I was in the middle of taking a shower." Troy explained.

"Sure, Troy. I need you to do me a favor—could you go get Madeline from her dance class? It was over a little while ago and—"

A warm feeling brushed against her face, causing her to stop talking.

"Shar?" Troy spoke.

She blinked her eyes and shook her head.

"Oh, yeah, I'm stuck in major traffic. Can you just pick her up?" She asked getting straight to the point.

"Yeah. Sure. Am I supposed to—are you okay?" Troy quickly changed the topic hearing Sharpay let out a sigh.

"I'm fine, Troy." She rolled her eyes.

"Sorry for caring—geez." He smirked.

"Go get her!" Sharpay ordered.

"All right! Don't have to yell. Am I dropping her off at _your_ house or what?" He asked.

"Take her out to dinner and then I will call you when I get home so you can drop her off." Sharpay explained.

"Okay, got it." Troy said.

"Good. Bye." Sharpay sighed again.

"I—never mind." Troy was stopped before even saying, "I love you" to her.

He didn't know what stopped him, he just did.

"Bye."


	11. Weekend

It was one of those days where Sharpay just did not want to get out of bed. She wished she could have just stayed under the warm covers all and not have to worry about anything. Her weekend seemed so great and nice; she couldn't believe it was ending. Now she had to go get going and pick up the kids before they had to call her and drag her out of bed. At first she thought the whole weekend without the kids would be really messed up and lonely, but she actually found it relaxing. No loud screams or responsibilities for two days. She didn't have to make breakfast or any real meals. She found herself eating frozen meals all the time.

Now she had to rush herself to the shower and get ready before it was noon. She told Troy she would pick them up before noon and she was already running late. Last night she stayed up all night watching comedies and being the teenage she use to be. It was just so nice to get her mind out of all the craziness that has been going on. All she needed was two days to chill and do whatever without anyone stopping her.

"Keys…Keys…" She searched around her counter trying to find her car keys.

When she found them, she quickly walked downstairs and grabbed her fully charged cell phone. She got in her car and drove towards Troy's place. Her mind went a little blank when she got on the freeway, trying to figure out where she was heading. It was just the fact that she didn't eat anything for breakfast and she got up late—slept late too. Her mind was still in the progress of waking up.

The drive wasn't too long, no traffic or anything. When Sharpay made it to the front of Troy's front door and knocked twice and then waited for someone to open the door. She could hear footsteps, heavy ones, which meant it, were Troy's. Sure, enough it was him.

"Hey." He opened the door with a bright smile.

She returned a smaller smile and looked pass him for the kids. They were nowhere in sight. All she wanted was to grab the kids and get out of the place. She wasn't in the mood to have a discussion with Troy, she had enough of that already and she didn't want her day to be ruined already, though it was already ruin the moment Troy opened the door.

"How was your weekend?" Troy asked trying to meet her eyes.

"It was good." She answered.

"Did you party hardy?" Troy joked.

"No!" Sharpay answered seriously.

That was when Troy knew he shouldn't have joked like that. He forgot about their whole argument reasons were all about how he always said she didn't want any responsibilities. Troy did learn that sometimes he really needed to think before he spoke. Most of the time he ended up saying the wrong thing and he would cause a big problem towards everything.

"I was just joking!" He snapped.

"Well don't joke! For your information, I stayed at home all weekend and relaxed! Glad to not have you around the house ruining my life!" Sharpay glared at him.

Troy stepped back. He wasn't trying to start some argument with her already. He was just asking her what she did during her "spare" time, but apparently it was official, they could never have a regular conversation without having some bitterness involve. It came clear to Troy that it was always Sharpay who started it too. He wasn't blaming her like some child or anything, but she was the one who tend to mess things up and get mad all the time. Normally he was always the one walking around and doing nothing. She would always get mad at how he never did anything and that how she always had to do everything. He tried to help her out around the house, but she made it seem like he was always in the way of everything. So he thought staying out of the way would help, apparently not.

"About that night, what happened? With your car and everything?" Troy asked trying to get on with their conversation.

"Nothing." Sharpay answered sounding truthful.

"What do you mean nothing? Your son said that you hit some rock or something and you're telling me nothing? I saw your car." Troy stated.

"Nothing happened. I didn't hit a rock!" Sharpay hissed.

"Are you sure you're okay? Should I take you to the hospital?" Troy looked at her.

"I'm fine! Stop asking me that!" She retorted.

"I'm just curious Sharpay!" Troy said loudly.

The tone of Sharpay's voice already gave her mood away. Troy could tell she was already in a bad mood and decided to not take it too far with her anymore. He was, usual making things worst. Whatever he did to try and make things better for her, it always turned out to be something she hated and from now on, he gave up on trying to make her happy. It wasn't his job anymore and he was sick of it.

"Have you figured out when you're moving yet?" She asked just out of curiosity.

"I found a place. I'm going to place my offer on it later tonight. They didn't tell me when it's closing yet—but it's not going to be too soon." He admitted.

"Well, I spoke to Richard the other night—did I tell you that?" She asked tapping her fingers down her arm.

Troy shook his head.

"It wasn't a lot to talk about, but I did learn that we have to file some share custody thing for the kids," She explained looking at him straight in the eye.

Troy nodded again and then silence followed. He didn't know what to do so he opened the door and called for Daniel and Madeline, telling them that their mom was already waiting for them. He didn't get a respond right away, but he then found Madeline running for the door with her little backpack and Daniel followed her.

"Mommy!" Madeline greeted Sharpay with a big hug.

"Did you have fun?" She asked bending down to Madeline's height.

"Yeah. I did." Madeline answered nodding.

"Good, good. Ready to go, Daniel?" She asked standing back up.

Daniel nodded and looked at Troy, a look in his eyes saying "Good-bye." Troy got the message and gave him a half hug, while patting his back. He had a great weekend with the kids and he was already missing them again, and they were still right in front of him.

"They'll be back in two weeks, I guess. And you can take them out for dinner every Wednesday." Sharpay said with a shrug grabbing Madeline's backpack.

"Yeah, I'll give you a call," Troy said giving Madeline a hug.

"Bye, Daddy!" Madeline exclaimed giving him a kiss on the cheek.

"Bye. See you later." He said motioning a small wave.

Sharpay, Daniel, and Madeline all walked down the hall and disappeared down the stairs, only their footsteps could be heard, but Troy walked back inside the house before their footsteps finally stopped the echoing.

The three of them got in the car and settled down. Sharpay asked the kids what they did and a lot of other questions. It was her first time not having the kids with her and she told them all about how it was really weird not having them around the house, fighting and running around. She didn't tell the part of how peaceful and actually nice it was to have some peace and quiet in the house. She thought that was a little bit too much for her to tell the kids.

"So what else did you do?" She asked driving.

"We talked. Daddy told us all about his plans. Then we talked about other things to, like when he's coming home. He told us he didn't know. Then he talked about how he met this friend named Marissa. He said she's nice and we can meet her next time we can come over." Madeline explained.

"Marissa?" Sharpay raised her eyebrow looking at the rear view mirror.

Whoever Marissa was, Sharpay didn't remember hearing Troy mention her. Whether she was just his friend, she wanted to know the scoop about this Marissa girl. It was rather soon for Troy to already have a girlfriend, knowing he was the one who didn't want to leave. It didn't bother Sharpay, but she just wanted to know a few things. Plus she also heard another thing she could drive Troy crazy about. He's always talking about how she liked to party, well now she knew that he was out partying recently and that would be a great thing to use against him. He wouldn't have any excuses to make since she had her witness, the kids. They both heard the story, at least Madeline did.

"He said that he met her at some party." Daniel spoke.

"She sounds like a freak." Madeline laughed.

"How do you know?" Sharpay asked.

"I just think she is. Mommy, do you know her?" Madeline answered.

"No. I've never even heard of her, until now" She answered.

"Oh." Madeline frowned.

It was quiet in the car again, until Madeline and Daniel started talking about where they should go out and eat this week with Troy. They couldn't agree on any restaurant. It was starting to freak Sharpay out again with all their talking going in and out of her ears.

"That place is icky!" Madeline stuck her tongue out at Daniel.

"Madeline, be nice!" Sharpay rolled her eyes.

She was getting tired of trying to get Madeline and Daniel to just keep their mouths shut. It was also getting to her that the kids couldn't stop talking about how their visit with Troy went and how sad they were that he was going to be going to New York soon, to move—permanently. It still bothered her just a little bit when she had to deal with Troy. Though, she couldn't wait to head home.

"Dad showed us his new place mom. It looked cool!" Daniel exclaimed.

"Yeah. He has an island in his kitchen! That's awesome!" Madeline exclaimed.

"An island?" Sharpay raised her eyebrow.

Madeline nodded, she had a smile on her face and her eyes are sparkling blue.

"He owns an island mommy!" She exclaimed.

Seriously, kids came up with the funniest liner to say. Madeline, being the talker always had crazy things that came out of her mouth. Sometimes they never made sense, but they always cracked Sharpay up.

"It's not an island, like a place with water honey—it's that middle thing in our kitchen." Sharpay tried to think of a way to explain it, better.

"Huh?" Madeline said leaning forward towards the driver's seat.

"Never mind." Sharpay shook her head.

It was worthless trying to explain the whole thing. Even she didn't know how to explain it, so trying to explain to someone younger wouldn't really be a good idea. Madeline was a hard child to explain things to anyways. She liked to ask questions until she ran out of them and finally got the point of what she was asking about. Sharpay could just imagine how long their conversation would have gone with the whole kitchen island thing if she hadn't ended it right away.

"What did you do mommy?" Madeline asked.

"Nothing important. Just being lazy" Sharpay laughed.

She was defiantly looking forward for the next time she got the weekend off. It felt like she could use days like those every day. Just some time to relax and not have to deal with anything.

"When are we going back?" Daniel asked.

"Oh, you'll see your dad every other weekend and you'll have dinner every Wednesdays, fair enough?" Sharpay asked as she continued to drive.

"Yeah, I guess. What about during holidays and stuff? What are we going to do about that?" Daniel questioned.

"I don't know. We haven't talked about that yet. Especially since he's moving, it's going to be hard." Sharpay said.

_

* * *

I've already plotted the ending for this story, I don't know if you guys are going to like it. All I can say is you're in for a surprise. I don't think anyone has figured out the ending yet, well maybe some of you, the ones with REALLY careful thinking. Who knows? You'll just have to wait and find out. And I know I keep on saying that. But I've never had an ending like this before so it's kind a "creeping" me out! LOL!_


	12. New?

_Well things are definitely moving okay? I just need to get on with the point of this story and stop adding little useless things._

It had been a fair few months since the whole problem started and everyone was starting to get over it. Sharpay walked inside her house with her new friend Kevin by her side. Madeline was the first one to spot her home and literally dropped her mouth to the ground when she saw her mom with another guy. Sharpay explained to her as how nothing was going to change and that they were going to start off as friends. Only Madeline just kept on telling her that, that was exactly what her dad said to her when mentioned her to Marissa and now he was going to marry her. Sharpay felt herself blush in front of Kevin but tried her best to hide it and shoed Madeline to her bedroom.

"She's the talker in the family, just ignore what she has to say, if they're pointless," She giggled leading Kevin to the living room.

"I understand," Kevin chuckled.

Daniel was in the living room watching a TV show when Sharpay entered the room with Kevin behind her. He turned around hearing footsteps behind him and threw his mom a confused look. He could tell she was all smiles about being next to some man he'd never met before. Sharpay thought about saying something but nothing could come out properly. She didn't want to kick Daniel out of the living room since that would just make things really awkward like with Madeline.

"Mom?" The ten–year-old raised his eyebrow.

"Daniel—this is Kevin, Kevin, this is my son, Daniel. That little girl earlier was Madeline—" Sharpay was cut off by Kevin's light chuckle.

She joined him along not really knowing what they were laughing about but felt like she had to laugh along. They met days ago and have been hanging out, though Sharpay never said much about him to the kids as she didn't want to get anything else in their minds. She wasn't like Troy who was exactly trying to rush everything.

"Nice to meet you, Daniel." Kevin smiled walking over to him and shaking his hand.

Daniel didn't really want to shake his hand. Just by looking at Kevin he already could tell that he hated him even if he didn't even know him. He liked to judge people by their appearances, especially if they involved his parents. And Kevin did look like he was one of those guys who worked like crazy and never had any time to have some real fun. People like that never appeared interesting to Daniel.

"Yeah, you too." Daniel said rolling his eyes.

Sharpay smiled at her son and sat on the nearby couch with Kevin right next to her. Daniel stood up right away and turned off his TV. He walked out of the room not wanting to witness anything or deal with anything.

"My kids are a little, out there. They're not very happy with everything that's been going on these past few months. Everything is moving so fast and they're just getting use to it, well I don't even know if they're trying." Sharpay said with a puzzled look.

All Kevin could do was nod.

…

The night didn't go as terrible as Sharpay had expected. The kids left her alone and let her do whatever. When Kevin left though, Madeline showed up in her bedroom all dress for bed waiting for some of her questions to be answered. Even if Madeline didn't say a word yet, Sharpay could tell by that serious look on her face that she wanted to talk.

"Who was he?!?" Madeline snapped sitting on the edge of the bed.

Sharpay crunched her face in confusion. The way Madeline had just snapped like that scared her. It sounded like Madeline was her mom back when she first started dating and her mom questioned her all about the guy. Only Madeline was really serious and asked the strangest questions in the world, every time Sharpay tried to lie herself out, it never worked. She was too smart for that.

"He's my friend honey." Sharpay answered.

Madeline gave her a straight look meaning she didn't believe her at all. Ever since the whole thing about Troy and Sharpay just taking a break from each other, Madeline stopped believing her parents since it's been more than three months since then and they're still not together. She blamed both of them for lying to her and therefore she refused to believe them with anything else.

"No he's not! I thought you and daddy were going to get back together!" She cried.

Sharpay closed her eyes knowing where this was going to end up. She had the same problem with Daniel earlier and now it was Madeline's turn to cry about it. When Sharpay thought that Madeline was most likely the one to not understand or try to understand what was going on, she tends to be the one who needs to know everything or she'll throw a big fit about it and it was starting to really get to her.

"What do you think is the whole point of this separation, Madeline?" Sharpay started sitting on the bed across from Madeline, their eyes locked together making sure Sharpay had full eye contact with her.

"I..I…I…don't know!" Madeline cried slamming her head against the soft pillow near her.

"I talked to Daniel about this too. It's not easy for me and I know it's not easy for you. I thought you would just let this go easily since you're much younger and you're…you're not as close to your dad as Daniel is." Sharpay bit her lip regretting what she had just said.

Madeline's head pop-up, tears were forming around her eyes and Sharpay could tell she was going to sob big time any minute now. She regretted saying that Madeline wasn't really close to Troy, which only made things worst since Madeline had been crying about how Troy was hardly around anymore.

"But daddy still loved me!" Madeline shot back.

"I know. He did. Really. I didn't mean that. It's just that—I don't want to talk about this again and I need you to just move on with me—just like Daniel." Sharpay smiled.

Madeline nodded and walked out of the room. Sharpay felt relief, knowing that the talk went well. It surprised her that Madeline didn't flood her room with the tears that wanted to come out of her eyes, but she was glad to not see her daughter cry. It did bother her when she saw Madeline crying or when Daniel didn't talk to her. A lot of things bothered her, especially when they were about Troy.

When Madeline was downstairs she grabbed the home phone and called for Troy. She wanted to talk to him and make him come home now. She waited for him to answer but he never did and it made her upset but she got over it and walked back upstairs to Daniel's room and talk to him about the whole thing. Only Daniel told her to go away and that he didn't want to talk about it. Just to her surprise, the home phone began to ring again and she quickly looked for the nearest handset availed. She knew it was her dad. When she answered it, she already heard her mom answering the phone.

"Hello?" Sharpay asked.

"Sharpay?" Troy's voice echoed.

"What?" She asked shocked to find Troy calling her for no reason.

"You called me?" He said with a questioned tone.

"No." Sharpay frowned.

"It said you did." He pointed out.

Sharpay looked at the phone blankly and then knew it had to be Madeline who called him. Daniel couldn't have because he wasn't really into talking on the phone and it made sense since she and Madeline just had a talk about Troy.

"Ugh! MADELINE!" Sharpay yelled.

Madeline gasped knowing from that tone that she was in trouble. She ran to her bedroom, dropping the handset on the hallway, she didn't care at this point if she left the phone on in the middle. She just wanted to get inside her room and lock the door.

"Don't yell through the phone! It hurts my ears!" Troy exclaimed.

"Shut up Troy!" She yelled.

Daniel walked out of his bedroom to see what was going on in the hall since he was hearing his dad's voice and knew well that there was no way his dad was in the house, though it would have been a nice surprise to see him. When he walked down the hall he noticed one of the home phones on the carpet, glowing with the word "In Use".

"No! You're the idiot!" Daniel could hear his mom argue through the phone.

"Excuse me? I'm the idiot? You're the one who has a screwed up life!" Troy shot back with bitterness in his voice.

"TROY! Shut up! I'm tired of you getting in my way! Just stay out of my life! Leave me alone!" Sharpay cried angrily.

"I did leave you alone! You called me! A polite person would call back—and I'm doing that!" Troy blurted.

"NO! I didn't CALL YOU! Why would I call you? You'll be the last person on earth I would call! I don't even think about you so what makes you think I'm going to just randomly call you?" Sharpay said with a smirk though Troy couldn't see her.

"You don't think about me huh? Well then you can—"

Daniel pressed the end key tried of listening to the conversation. He had enough of their argument already, even if they weren't living together anymore, they still argued like always, and they never stopped until one of them won. Daniel could still hear Sharpay in her bedroom, since the door was slightly open. He kept on hearing her say Troy's name angrily or just shot "Shut Up" over and over again.

Madeline got out of her room just to see who picked up the phone, when she saw Daniel she walked over to him.

"Do you think daddy will really go to New York?" Madeline asked looking up at her older brother.

"Probably." Daniel said with a sigh turning around to walk back to his room.

Madeline walked over towards her mom's room, hearing her mom talking, most likely on the phone.

"No! You can't tell me what to do. Whatever! No! I don't even like Marissa…I don't even know who she is, so you can just shut up! I don't care! No!" Sharpay snapped looking like she was about to kill the phone.

"Mommy!" Madeline cried walking back in the room.

She wanted to tell her mom to stop yelling at her dad and let her talk to him. Since she was the one who called anyways.

"Madeline, can you not see I'm on the phone?" Sharpay asked looking over at her daughter.

"Let me talk to her Sharpay! You treat our kids like dirt!" Troy barked.

Sharpay's eyes grew wide. She could not believe Troy just said that. She very well did not treat her kids like dirt, she cared about them and she loved them, really.

"I what? You need to stop your assuming right now Troy Bolton! You are really starting to get on my last nerves and what you've seen isn't as ugly as this can get! I treat my kids with royalty! Maybe you should be the one thinking back!" Sharpay retorted angrily.

"Mom…"Madeline walked closer towards an angry Sharpay.

"How do I treat them like dirt? I'm the one who put food on the table and worked my butt off everyday to get all of you what you needed and you're telling me that I'm treating my kids like dirt? For your information Sharpay, I'm not the one who was complaining that you were sick and tired of having to sit at home and watch the kids. You were the one telling me that you didn't like having to be at home all the time being the kids! So you can stop your lies!" Troy said loudly making Madeline hear every word he said.

Sharpay hung up the phone not able to take it anymore and she didn't want Madeline to hear anything more.

"We're falling apart." Madeline said in a weak voice.

"No. We are not. Your dad is." Sharpay corrected her.


	13. Talk With Dad

_I'm not going to exactly tell you when time is moving, but you'll figure out by how I put in months or weeks or days or whatever in the story? Okay? I don't feel like going "Six months later"…He he. I'm just lazy like that!_

_And for all of you who have been wondering how this is a Troypay…well all I can say is you'll just have to wait in the end. And all I'm going to say is that this is a troypay…in many ways. Lol._

* * *

Troy looked around his place and finally found the remote control. He hated it when he had to search for it and miss part of his shows. Though he could have just turned the TV on by the power button, he just had to have the remote. It was a habit, a habit he should break.

"Daddy! I don't like sharing a room with Daniel here. Can't you get another room?" Madeline cried sitting on the couch next to him.

"You two are only here for weekends anyways and I don't have time for that. I have to get going. I'm trying to get everything packed in two weeks so I can get going. I really need to get everything together." Troy explained flipping through the channels.

"You're moving in with Marissa?" Madeline asked titling her head with confusion.

Troy shook his head.

"No. Remember, I'm going to move to New York because I want to live there—Marissa lives there too. You can visit me anytime you want and I'll come visit you." He smiled at her.

Madeline nodded and giggled. She didn't want her dad to go to New York though. She heard her mom on the phone saying that there was no way she was going to let her kids go to New York without her, which meant that Madeline wasn't going to be able to see her dad whenever she wanted to. But she didn't want to say anything about it to him; she might get in trouble with her mom for ease dropping.

"Can't mommy move to New York too?" She asked with puppy eyes.

"No." Troy chuckled pulling her onto his lap. "She's not going to want to. I think she's happier here, don't you think? She has her friends and her own things going on." He kissed her head. "She wants me out of here too. She's already complained how I've been living here for eight months and that I need to leave because of the paper works stating that I wouldn't be always living here. Plus Marissa wants me to move down there soon too." He smiled.

Madeline frowned and gave him a headshake. She wasn't happy about the whole Marissa thing going on now. Her brother was suddenly right about everything ands he hated that. She always wanted to be right; she didn't like it when Daniel was right. It just bugged her how he was older and knew so much better!

Daniel walked in the living room looking around to make sure Marissa wasn't around. He didn't want to deal with her this early in the morning. Last night she got on his nerves about how nice it was that she met his dad. He was about to barf on her. The last thing he wanted to hear was some woman talking about loving stuff about his own dad. It just made him feel sick.

"She's not here, Daniel." Madeline giggled at her brother's spied look.

"Who's not here?" Troy asked puzzled.

"Marissa." Madeline smiled.

Troy gave her an even more puzzled look. He didn't know why Daniel was looking like he was spying on someone in the room. He knew that Daniel didn't like Marissa, but it didn't look that bad. Plus it was natural for a ten year old to not like his dad's girlfriend. Troy was glad that at least Madeline liked Marissa, it could have been worst if both of his kids didn't like his girlfriend.

"No offense dad, but I can't stand her," Daniel sat on the other couch looking at the TV.

"Oh. I know." Troy rolled his eyes.

To him it didn't matter that Daniel didn't like Marissa since they didn't have to be around each other all the time. The kids didn't live with him so it didn't really matter. Even if the kids where living with him, he knew he still wouldn't care because kids were kids, they were going to choose who they wanted to hate, whether they truly did or not.

"Can't you find someone else?" Daniel asked.

"No!" Troy shot him a mad look.

"Okay. Sorry I asked!" Daniel shot back.

"You better be." Troy narrowed his eyes at his son.

The three of them watched TV for a little while, mainly the news since there was never anything on in the morning. At least nothing interesting. Madeline moved around a lot on his lap making sleeping noises and Daniel just sat there looking at the TV. Troy knew he wasn't interested in the news; he was just looking at the TV to keep him occupied so he didn't have to deal with another argument.

It became obvious to Troy that Daniel was also drifting away from him. He started to turn against him with many things and decided to never really talk to him either. He wasn't sure if it was Sharpay who got that in his head or what, but it was also irritating him. Every time he asked if Daniel wanted to play basketball, he would just shrug and say "Okay." Then he wouldn't try his best at all and just let himself loose. Troy was starting to get worried about him, maybe he was sick or had some weird feeling inside of him.

"Mommy had a dream about you daddy. Like the first night you were gone." Madeline spoke overlapping the TV volume.

Troy turned down the volume interested to hear what his daughter had to say. He didn't recall hearing about Sharpay having a dream about him when he first left the house. He wanted to hear the whole story, even if it was coming out of a seven-year-old's mouth, he didn't care.

"What dream?" He asked.

Daniel rolled his eyes.

"When you first left, I slept in your room with mommy. She was sleeping and then she started crying your name. She was doing that too the other night. I woke her up and she really was crying, but she said it was nothing." Madeline explained.

"Oh." Troy said not finding the story that interesting.

The part of Sharpay crying his name seemed interesting and he didn't understand why she didn't tell him, maybe he could have helped her. It was probably just because it was the first night she was alone or something. He wasn't sure, but it was a while ago and it didn't really matter now. They were both moving on with their lives.

"Mom's not going to be very happy with you, Madeline," Daniel said from his seat.

"Why?" Madeline asked.

"I don't think she wanted you to tell dad that." He answered.

"She never said I couldn't!" Madeline hissed.

"All right. All right. Don't mention it to your mom and no one will get in trouble. Got it?" Troy interrupted the argument that was surely to come.

It always started like that, a small little conversation and Daniel and Madeline turned it into a big fight. He felt sorry that Sharpay had to deal with this all the time, but he never heard her complain so he didn't care that much. He never actually heard anything from her since she never talked to him, so it didn't affect him too much.

"Oh! And mommy has this boyfriend named Kevin. He's weird." Madeline blurted out.

She sure was the talker. Troy got every information about Sharpay through her. She seemed to be the gossip queen and he only knew where she got that.

"Kevin, huh?" He raised his eyebrow.

"He's funny though. He has a dog! A golden retriever! Her name is Trixy. She's really nice. Are you going to get a dog, daddy?" Madeline asked.

"No." Troy shook his head looking at his living room clock.

He had to make breakfast pretty soon before the kids starve and tell Sharpay about how they didn't eat breakfast one morning with him. She sure liked to give him crap about all his mistakes, and she never gave him praise for all his achievements either. At least, he tried to compliment her on things and corrected—nicely when she made mistakes. He didn't rub it in her face, like she does to him.

"Off me, honey. I need to start breakfast." Troy tapped Madeline's backside.

"I want cereal." She said jumping off him.

"Me too." Daniel agreed taking his eyes off the TV.

"That doesn't sound like a very hard thing to make," Troy laughed walking over towards the kitchen, with Madeline following him.

She liked to follow people a lot. It was one of her favorite things to do in life. She was so nosey and she wanted to know everything that was going on around her, much like Sharpay. Daniel had been the quiet one lately, he use to be a talker too—but ever since the whole break down, he started to not talk to his parents as much. Troy didn't notice it at all, until Sharpay screamed to him. Then he started to pay more attention to Daniel and that was when he began to notice it.

"When are you going to get married, dad?" Daniel asked walking after Madeline.

Troy paused for a little bit trying to think of the date. Nothing came to his mind since they never made an official date yet. They had things planned, but they weren't too serious just yet. It was still early and they've only been together for a few months. It wasn't time to rush into things yet.

"Err…Next year, early next year." He said taking a box of cereal out of the cabinet.

"Why so soon?" Madeline asked with a wine at the end.

"That's not soon. A whole other year!" Troy chuckled.

"She doesn't like me." Madeline frowned.

"She likes you—a lot!" He laughed

Madeline didn't even laugh. She wasn't in the mood to laugh at that. She did like Marissa, when she thought she liked her too. Then she started to notice Marissa give her a few frowns now and then when she mentioned her mom. She could tell that Marissa didn't like her mom, but she couldn't help but mention her mom a few times. When Madeline talked about the time she went to Disneyland with her mom, dad, and brother, Marissa gave her a glare. Not a very nice glare either. It was one of those glares you receive after being proven guilty. That was when she began to get the idea that maybe her mom was right about how Marissa acted. But she didn't want to suddenly not like her either, Marissa was actually pretty nice and at times she was okay.

"Madeline…" Troy knocked her out of her lala land.

"Oh." Madeline took the bowl of cereal and searched for a spoon.

Troy handed Daniel his and then asked Madeline to get two spoons, one for her brother. She was about to make a comment about how Daniel should get his own when Troy cut her off not ready to have another argument between the kids this early. Thinking of how early it was, he decided to get a head start of the day and shower up.

"Enjoy your breakfast. I have to shower up." Troy said rushing out of the kitchen.

"Okay. I wan to shower next." Madeline looked up from her food.

"Okay," Troy smiled and disappeared down the hall.

Daniel and Madeline sat across from each other, eating their cereal. The only sound you could hear was the spoon banging against the bowl and the slurping sound the two were making.

"What do you think mom is doing?" Madeline asked finishing up her cereal.

Daniel just gave her an "I don't know" look. He didn't know, nor did he want to know. All he knew was that Kevin was spending time with her and he didn't like Kevin so he didn't care about what he was up to.

"Probably out shopping." Madeline giggled.

"Probably." Daniel agreed liking her thought better.

They stayed seated even when they were finish and looked around the room as if they've never been in it before. They just didn't know what to do or say or where to go. They've been over many times before. This was just one of those "What should we do" days, and probably next weekend would be the same. Only it was Troy's last weekend with the kids too. So he knew very well how horrible that might be.

_

* * *

You already know that the next chapter will take place during the kids' next stay with Troy. I thought it would be boring to write about their stay with Sharpay since their won't be any Troypay moments at all! I'm just going to warn you now, you'll notice that with each chapter, there will be a huge jump! Like it'll fast forward to oh..i don't know ten months later? And so on. But I'm not going to say that, you'll just figure it out by reading on. I'm just trying to get the story moving since I don't want this to keep on going and never stop! I tend to do that. I try to set myself a limit that way I don't end up with 50 chapters in the end!_

And by the way guys, I'm going to delete most of my one-shot stories, Can't Hide Love, The Rain, The Past, and The Dinner, Zac and Ashley and I think that's it. I just want to delete them, no real reason, I just feel like it and I wanted to let you know because you want to reread it some other time then you might want to copy and paste it or something. ((I'll delete them next Friday, March 23rd)) 


	14. Hanging With Kevin

"Where are your kids?" Kevin asked noticing the house very quiet.

"They're with their dad for the weekend." Sharpay explained.

She wasn't really into hanging out anymore. She got tired and felt like she could use some time to herself, but it would be rude to kick Kevin out after he just arrived. All Sharpay could think of was trying her best to stay interested for the night when she already felt like sleeping.

"That's nice. Give you some time alone." Kevin smiled giving her a kiss on the lips.

"Yeah, I've very tired." Sharpay smiled.

They sat together in the living room for a little while, not saying a word. Sharpay had almost forgotten Kevin was even in the same room as her, he didn't say anything at all. He was also tired too and he needed some relaxation.

When Sharpay woke up the next day, still sitting on her couch she noticed that Kevin was already gone. She didn't bother to call for him knowing he was probably at his work or he just went home, either last night or early this morning. She was so knocked out last night she didn't remember anything that happened. Plus Kevin never stayed around long, he always had something to do and Sharpay was use to that.

A warm touch softened her hand, making her touch her own hand. It felt like someone was holding onto her but really no one was. She was just feeling sleepy and it felt like she was suddenly dizzy again. It was either from lack of sleep or just her morning brain not working well, which made her dizzy a lot. Another soft touch came on her cheek making her tingle, but she ignored it and walked upstairs to get ready. She had to go get the kids from Troy again. She hated having to do that; she hated having to "share" the kids. It bugged her how she always had to go drop them off or pick them up. She always wondered why Troy couldn't just pick them up and then drop them off.

"Lazy." She rolled her eyes looking up the shower.

She figured she had enough time to take a shower and get ready. She walked over to her counter where she had her clothes laid out and all her hair accessories. All she needed was a nice bath so start the day off being fresh.

When she got out of the shower and got ready for everything it was almost eleven, which meant she really needed to get going. Her cell phone began to ring just before she was heading out the door. It was Kevin and she answered right away. He called to tell her about having lunch this afternoon, after she picked up Daniel and Madeline and if it was possible, she could tag them along. Sharpay agreed to the plan right away and told him that she would take the kids since she hadn't gone out to lunch, dinner or anything with them in a long time.

…...

Sharpay knocked on Troy's front door, trying to look patient. Troy was the one who opened the door, like always. As soon as he opened the door, he closed it right away, but not before letting himself out in the hall with Sharpay. Sharpay was a little lost at why he walked out and closed the door.

"I need to talk to you," Troy seemed to have read her confused face.

"Oh." She spoke.

"It's about—having a relationship." Troy started.

Sharpay dropped her straight look on her face. If Troy expected her to help him with some relationship with another girl, she was so not going to help him. Who has the crazy idea to do that? Ask your ex-wife for help about your new girlfriend. Even if Troy begged, she wasn't going to give in.

"Are you okay with me—umm—moving on you know? Getting married." He asked.

A sudden "duh" look came on Sharpay's face. She didn't know why he was asking her that. She didn't care. They had nothing to stop them from doing that. Plus she already knew he was seeing someone anyways. Madeline told her last week anyways, and she didn't care. She kind a thought that was a little fast, but it didn't matter so much. She was also with Kevin. That was why exactly she needed to get everything done quickly before anything else gets in the way.

"I really don't care." She answered. "I already know Troy anyways. And it doesn't matter. Go ahead. I don't care. When are you getting"

Troy nodded. He didn't think she would. He just thought it would change her mind still. Apparently though, nothing could change her mind once it was made up. He just wanted to consult her about it, before she found out by herself and got all mad or started to yell at him for already seeing someone after a two week spilt? He already had the back up answer to that too, he would just blame Chad. Chad was the one who took him to the party. Even though Sharpay would not buy that, it was still a good excuse, in his case.

"Anything new with you?" He asked changing the subject.

"No. Not really. Well, I saw your parents, last Thursday—I think," She admitted

She wasn't planning on telling Troy that, but it was the only interesting thing that popped in her mind. The only thing she didn't want to mention was that she kind a got off on the wrong foot with them about him and that they completely hate her now.

"Oh really? What happened?" He asked with a curious look.

"Ehh. We talked. Your mom was kind a mad at me already. Then I talked to your dad, he wasn't too happy with me. They ended up getting upset in the end and I don't think I'll be seeing them anytime soon." Sharpay explained.

Troy shook his head. Just what he needed. His parents to be mad at Sharpay when after all these years, they got along so great. He hadn't spoke to his parents about the whole splitting up with Sharpay, but they did know. News spread around fast through his friends and it was most likely to get to his parents the very next minute. His mom did question him about it a little but she wasn't so interested on hearing about how he and Sharpay weren't together anymore. His dad didn't look like he cared. He just asked if he was going to still see his grandkids.

"What did you say?" He asked.

"I don't really remember." Sharpay answered.

She couldn't remember the whole conversation word for word; she didn't talk to them for a really long time. It was just a quick little bumping into each other kind of conversation. If she did remember, she wouldn't tell Troy that was one less thing he needed to know about her life. Since she and Troy didn't really belong to each other anymore, she didn't have to tell him everything and she was willing to take advantage of that.

"Oh. Well the kids stayed up all night last night, watching some movies and they didn't get much sleep, so they're kind a lagging inside so sorry if they take a while to gather all their stuff." Troy explained.

"I don't care. Just tell them to hurry up though. I have things to do today and I can't be late." Sharpay said wiping her forehead.

Troy invited her inside the house for a little bit and she actually decided to stay. They talked about what he was going to be doing his last few weeks here and why he chose to go to New York out of all the places in the world. As usual, they didn't have much to talk about and it got boring.

"How's your life going?" Troy asked running out of questioned.

Sharpay made an 'I don't know' sound and relaxed herself on the sofa. She could hear kids trying to get all their things ready, they did sound really sleepy.

"Madeline said something about a guy named Kevin? What's up with him?" Troy questioned.

"Oh. Hm. I met him through an old friend. Nice guy." She answered not meeting Troy's eyes.

Troy nodded and looked around the room. As they saw each other every now and then they had less and less to say to each other. Sharpay could already see the day when they ran out of things to say. And she knew it was coming soon, once Troy would leave, she had a feeling that they weren't going to have much communicating going on, or at least for a while they wouldn't with their long distant from each other.

"That's good. I guess. Are you planning to--?" Troy stopped his sentence knowing Sharpay already got what he was talking about with her expression.

"No!" She snarled giving him a look.

It really looked like to Troy that she didn't even like this guy if she was so angry with him wondering if they were planning on getting married. Or maybe she just didn't want to tell him. Either way, she looked mad at the question.

"I was just asking. Don't have to freak." Troy said to her.

Sharpay just scolded at him and went on to looking down the hall waiting for the kids to hurry up. She was getting impatient and she promised to have lunch with Kevin later on—with the kids.

"Daniel! Madeline! Come on!" Sharpay got tired of waiting and walked down the little hall.

She turned to the open bedroom door where Daniel and Madeline were both stuffing their bags up. Sharpay helped them both just crumple everything inside and dragged them both out of the room very impatient.

"Umm see you?" Troy walked after her.

He could tell she was in a really big rush, but he wanted to say bye to his kids properly.

"Bye dad!" Daniel stopped giving him a hug.

Sharpay had no choice but to stop too, since Madeline wanted to give Troy a hug. After all the good-byes. Sharpay drove straight to the restaurant to where Kevin agreed to meet up with her. The kids didn't even bother to ask her where they were going until they got inside the restaurant and Sharpay was looking around for Kevin.

"Who are we looking for?" Madeline asked playing with her hair and jumping up and down to get a glance of the crowd.

"Kevin." Sharpay answered scanning the place.

"Uh." Daniel spat quietly.

"Is he your boyfriend now?" Madeline asked wrinkling her forehead.

Sharpay didn't answer her. She pretended not to hear her and walked down the path to where she noticed Kevin. He was sitting at a booth drinking water. The three of them approached him, Daniel was taking his time to reach the table and Madeline just made herself comfortable right across from Kevin and coloring the kid's menu right away.

"Hey." Kevin got up giving Sharpay a hug.

She hugged him back and sat down next to him, ordering Daniel to take the seat next to Madeline. The four of them sat down, chatting about what to order and random things. Kevin announced that he was going to be leaving to go out of the country, since he was in the military, Sharpay was a little disappointed, but since he didn't exactly say when, she didn't question him about it.

"So Daniel, how's your basketball thing going?" Kevin asked.

He wasn't into sports at all so he knew nothing about what Daniel was into, but he tried his best to get along with him, though it never worked.

"Good." Daniel answered.

"That's good. Anything new Maddie?" Kevin asked looking over at Madeline who was busy coloring.

"Nope. Don't call me that. Only my daddy can." Madeline said not looking up from her menu.

Sharpay wanted to smack her daughter for saying that but she just tried to keep a simple face on knowing that Madeline did have the rights to say that, but it was terribly rude. Daniel sunk a snicker under his breath and tried to hold back a loud laughter. Kevin just looked flushed and turned away from Madeline to look at Sharpay.


	15. Time Went By

It was already nighttime and the house was mellow. It was already the weekend and Sharpay didn't have anything planned. The kids were with her and Troy was long gone to New York, he left nearly two weeks ago. It was surprising how the kids didn't throw a huge fit about it. They already knew about it and they knew that the day would eventually come, so it wasn't too big of a deal. Only a lot has happened this week, apparently Kevin had to leave last Tuesday and told Sharpay that he wouldn't be returning for a long, long time, so that was the end of their short relationship. It didn't hurt her knowing he wasn't with her anymore, she wasn't even sure if she loved him just yet, she knew she liked him, but never felt for real love. Kevin only made things worst anyways, everything they did together reminded her of the things she did with Troy. The less and less she saw Troy; the more and more she missed him. It was hard to admit it, but she sometimes wished they were…friends. The only thing questioning her now was when Troy would return or if he would ever return.

Since he left she hadn't heard from him, which came as a surprise. She thought that he would at least call for Daniel and Madeline, but it's been two weeks and no words from him yet. She knew he must have been busy unpacking and settling down. That was the only reason that came in mind and sounded like a good excuse. The days were seriously flying by fast. One minute it was Sunday the next it would be Friday. The kids were growing up within a blink and suddenly it was summer time. Everyday Sharpay found herself sitting by the phone waiting for hear from Troy. She just wanted to know if he was still alive. She had no contact with him and didn't have his phone number or e-mail address. She had his home address, but she really didn't want to go all the way to New York and her reason being because she just wanted to check up on him. It was believed to be his job to check up on her! The idea of writing a letter came to Sharpay, but she backed down wondering what would happen if she ended up writing things she didn't want to write and the image of Marissa seeing it.

With Daniel almost twelve and Madeline eight, things were definitely not the same anymore. They hardly had time to be at home, even when it was summer. Daniel begged Sharpay to let him go to some basketball camp and Madeline wanted to go to Dance camp. It was a decision Sharpay hadn't made yet and the kids were still getting in her skin about it. Everyday though she felt pain inside of her knowing she had wasted time and nothing really changed. She felt like she slept through everything. There were random times when her body just felt like it was aching and she was cold and then a weird warm feeling would go down her spine as she felt a touch on her cheeks or her hands. It drove her crazy, but in a way it was a normal feeling.

"Mom!" Madeline exclaimed snapping Sharpay out of her thoughts.

"Yeah?" She turned around to face her daughter who in her nightwear already with her hair up in a pony tail.

"What are we going to do this summer? I've been really bored. Daniel and I wanted to know if we could go see dad or something," Madeline said with a guilty look on her face.

Sharpay looked down at the phone next to her and looked back up. She had spent all day in the home office doing nothing on the computer just waiting for the phone to ring. She wasn't sure if she was just so desperate now or if things were really getting to her.

"I don't know." She answered standing up.

"It's just that I miss him and he told me that I could come over whenever I want." Madeline explained herself following Sharpay around.

"I know. I don't know where he's at though. I don't know how you'll be able to get a hold of him." Sharpay admitted rubbing her cheeks and walking towards the stairs.

"Call him?" Madeline suggested as a question.

"Don't have his number." Sharpay responded.

"Hey mom…is it true that dad cheated on you?" Madeline asked curiously.

She had wanted to ask that question all day long but never knew when the right time was. The right time never came until now when she was talking about her dad; she could tell her mom wasn't too happy with the question. Sharpay turned around and stared at her daughter with a sad expression.

It had been a long time since she last accused Troy of that. Thinking back now made her realize that she did stop blaming him for that when she found out that he never did, her question now was how did Madeline find out? Also what was her reason for telling Troy to leave again? To have a free life and do whatever she wanted, right? Then how come nothing has changed except for the fact that everything seems so cold now and lonely? She never got what she wanted in the end, she did in the beginning but what good did it even do?

"Who told you that?" She asked narrowing her eyes down at Madeline.

"No—No one." Madeline answered. "Well—I just remember when you and dad use to yell at each other all the time—I just wanted to ask you that now." She said stepping back to sit down on the nearest seat she could take.

"Oh, no. He never did. I don't even have proof." Sharpay paused. "I thought he was. It was along time ago, Madeline. I don't really want to talk about it." She ran her fingers through her hair, closing her eyes tightly.

"Okay." Madeline nodded walking upstairs.

…

Troy had been very busy working on everything he could possibly get done. Things had been a little crazy with his life and he didn't have time for himself anymore. Starting over and getting a fresh start was harder than he thought. His whole time in his new place, he hadn't even thought about his own kids. He forgot he even had kids with all the crazy things going on. Marissa was the one who worked, so Troy was stuck inside getting stuff organized and trying to figure out what he should do.

"You should invite your kids for the wedding—it'll be fun," Marissa suggested.

That was a sudden hit in Troy's brain. He had been so caught up with other things he forgot he was even getting married—soon. That also reminded him to catch up with Daniel and Madeline before he drifted—out of their lives.

"I will, I'll call them up later, or I should go down there and visit next week or something," Troy responded.

Marissa agreed with him, it was a shock that she actually brought up his kids since she was the one who suggested taking a break from having the kids over all the time and just settle down by themselves.

Troy was a little worried the first few days he lived in New York. He didn't know what to expect and he wondered if he was making the right decision or not. He missed everyone right away and it scared him. He was scared that what if he just ruined his life, or if something happened to his family down there and he wasn't near to help them. Then the image of Sharpay would cross his mind and he would feel secure knowing it was Sharpay who decided to conclude in taking the kids in her responsibility. Sometimes he wondered what she was up to now, if she was still with that guy or what? He didn't know, he hadn't seen her for a while and he never had much time to think about her.

"Is it okay if I invite Sharpay to the wedding, even if it's most likely she wouldn't come?" Troy asked taking the risk.

He knew that Marissa wouldn't allow that. It was too weird and strange to have his ex-wife there. Even he wasn't so into the idea but he just thought it was worth the try. Asking Sharpay wouldn't hurt.

"Why?" Marissa asked.

"I just thought it'd be nice to have her. I want to stay friends with her; she's the mother of my two kids, its kind a important that I stay friends with her. You know? For the kids' sakes," Troy explained.

"I'm not so fond of her, Troy." Marissa smirked.

"You haven't really even met. Just give her a try. She's probably not even going to come anyways." Troy said.

"I don't know…it's also my wedding and I want it to be perfect." Marissa said with a dreamy look.

Talking about Sharpay made Marissa get suspicious. To her, it sounded like Troy would do anything to get Sharpay back in his life and to be with her again. She hated thinking about that and would do anything to erase the memory of Sharpay out of Troy's mind. Anything. It was making her mad how sometimes Troy would just talk about Sharpay like it didn't mean anything and it really did.

"Yeah, but we're practically inviting most of your family and friends. I don't even have family and friends coming, except for my kids. Look, my friends—they're not really…I don't know how to put this…but they're not happy with me…everyone knows that Sharpay and I are meant to be—which you obviously know we're not…my friends just want me to stay with her—and so do my parents. They're mad at her, but they still love her…it's hard to do this because she's been…I've been with her for so long…she was my first girlfriend…one and only—or was my one and only…now she hates me, but I just think it would be nice to have her come, if she supports me in anyways." Troy explained knowing he probably shouldn't have said half the things he said.

Marissa had a disgusted look on her face. She didn't want to get the image of Sharpay in her mind with Troy and how they went out for so long and blah, blah, blah. But if she was going to make Troy love her forever, she had to cooperate with him even if his choices were a little out there.

"I suppose. But don't you think it's weird? Don't you think she wouldn't want to see her husband—err—ex husband getting married to someone else?" Marissa pointed out.

"I don't think she cares." Troy spoke_. 'I wouldn't have agreed to marry or go out with you if she cared.'_ He added in his mind.

"In that case, then why not? I just don't want to ruin my perfect day though," Marissa smiled.

"Don't worry, it won't be ruined." Troy smiled back.

"It better not be. I won't be happy if it is. You know that." Marissa beamed.

Troy just nodded.

….

"Mom. Can I talk to you?" Daniel stepped in the master bedroom.

Sharpay nodded and sat back against her bed frame.

"About what?" She asked patting the spot next to her.

"Can we get a dog?" He asked sitting down.

Sharpay gaze up at her son with a conscious look. At a time like this Daniel would ask for a dog? She knew how much he and Madeline have always wanted a dog, so did Troy, but Sharpay wasn't sure if she wanted a dog running around the house messy it up. But now, she felt like she needed a dog to keep her company. Only she wasn't sure if she wanted to clean up after a dog and it would be a little hard, especially since Daniel most likely would want a big dog to run around with.

"Umm…what kind?" Sharpay asked.

"Madeline and I agreed on a golden retriever," He answered.

"I don't think right now is the best time to get a dog. Maybe some other time, later on." Sharpay said shaking her head.

Daniel understood her every word and nodded.

_

* * *

This chapter did explain pretty the whole time Troy wasn't gone—I just wrote them all down so it wasn't scattered and you got the idea of what was going in both of their lives now that Troy's off to New York about to start his new life. And you probably have noticed that I've updating this daily...I'm just trying to get it going here._

_Next Chapter—expect Troy to show up at Sharpay's front door!_


	16. Visit From Troy and Memories

Troy knocked on the door, the house he use to live in. The house he hadn't been inside for so long. He wanted to go in and see what's changed or what was going on inside, but he was scared just standing outside alone in the dark. He knew not contacting Sharpay for a few months was a bad idea; it just brought more chills down his spine knowing at any moment he was going to be face to face with her again.

He rang the doorbell this time since no one answered the door when he knocked. Of course, Sharpay was the one who opened the door.

"Hey, Shar…" Troy said looking down to the ground, for once scared to face Sharpay.

"Troy…" She spoke opening the door wider.

She wasn't expecting him that's for sure. When she saw him, she actually felt herself happy and wanted to just jump on him. For all those lonely nights she had been having the past few weren't exactly helping the fact that she had no one. Kevin made everything worst and her life just felt so weird after that. Expecting herself to be crying over Kevin, she found herself crying over Troy again. It just brought memories of when they were fighting and not getting along because of her faults. Now she was realizing them and kept on crying herself to sleep knowing she had made the biggest mistake she could possibly make in her whole entire life and there wasn't a way to get Troy back because he would never want her back after all she's done to him—and he had Marissa. His perfect girlfriend.

"Come on." She moved out of the way to let him in.

Troy looked around the front room of the house. It looked different from what he could remember, but it's been a long time so he didn't blame himself for not remembering it. Plus this wasn't the room he paid much attention too. This was just the first room you stepped in when you walked through the door. He hadn't seen Daniel or Madeline or Sharpay for almost a year, at least nine or ten months. He knew they have grown—he was just scared to see how much he'd missed out in their lives. He didn't know what to expect from either on of them.

"What brings you here?" Sharpay asked motioning him to sit down as they reached the living room.

"Oh you know, my girlfriend—um fiancé—we'll we're getting married and I came down here to see if you and the kids wanted to come?" Troy explained looking at Sharpay directly as he sat down.

"Oh. I don't know—when?" Sharpay asked not really interested.

She felt her heart crushed again. She was hoping he came back to tell her that he and Marissa are history and just needed some company. High hopes about getting back with Troy was sort of on her mind. Not really. She wasn't really sure of what to hope for. Her whole life was pretty much screwed the day she made the decision to tell Troy to leave and that they needed to separate.

"Three weeks." He said.

"I—I can't. I have other plans." Sharpay lied biting her lip.

She really didn't want to go to Troy's wedding. Never in her life did she want to see Troy get married with some woman she disliked.

"Try to. Can the kids come? I really want them to come." He said holding a few papers in his hand, which barely just caught Sharpay's attention.

"I can try. I'm sure the kids can go," She said with a gentle smile.

For sure she knew she wasn't going to go, but there weren't any harm on letting the kids go, so she would allow them if they wanted to. Which most likely the would since they want to go to New York with Troy—badly. The whole thing about Troy getting married in three weeks just came as a wild blur. She knew she shouldn't have been so shock, she saw it coming, she just didn't know when though and hearing it coming so soon just gave her a large disappointment.

"Mom! Madeline is being a brat! Tell her to go to bed!" Daniel exclaimed walking to the living room with Madeline clung to his left leg.

Troy turned his head to find his two kids, really grown. Daniel looked a lot like him and Madeline was the miniature version of Sharpay. She looked too dolled up for going to bed in her silky pink pajama pants with stars all over and a while tank top with a light pink star in the middle. She had her hair in two pigtail locks and she had fuzzy slippers on. Daniel just had a t-shirt and shots, his hair all shaggy.

"Da—dad?" Daniel said in shock dragging his ten-year-old sister along with him.

"Dad?!?" Madeline stood up brushing her legs with her hands.

Troy flashed them both a grin. He couldn't think of what else to say or do. Grinning always worked during awkward times.

Madeline ran up to him and gave him a big hug. Daniel did the same too and everyone shared a mini conversation again, until Troy had to tell the kids that he had some important things to talk about with their mom so they had to leave the room. Once he and Sharpay were alone again, they began to talk.

"The other reason I'm here is—I need you to sign the divorce papers—so I can get this on with," He said hanging her two pieces of papers.

Sharpay simply took them in her hands and attentively scanned through it. She felt beaten at the concept of making their separation official. Tears were starting to make their way around her eyes again. This time, she managed to try her best to not cry and hold them back by biting her lower lip.

"Okay. When do you need them back?" She asked setting them down on the coffee table.

"Sometime this week. Listen, the wedding is three weeks—and I was wondering if the kids could stay with me for two weeks? I can't stay for long; Marissa is waiting for me back at the hotel. So you think you can make up your mind quickly? I'll give you a call later tonight that way I can get everything set? I really have to get going," Troy stood up looking very prompt.

"I'll try my best Troy. I'll tell the kids and you'll be seeing them in a week—or so. What do you want me to do? Call you when I'm done with all the signing or what?" She said also standing up.

"Just mail to me, I'll give you a call tomorrow or the next day. I'm leaving next week, so if you want, the kids can come with me, so they won't have to fly alone," He said making his way towards the door.

Sharpay just nodded. She didn't want to keep him any longer since he looked very anxious to get out of the house. Part of her kept on saying that he was lying and that he didn't need to go anywhere; the other part said he was telling the truth. She was more leaned to the lying party; he just looked like he wanted to be out of her sight. He looked nervous and scared to be near her and she understood why. She was scared too, not really nervous.

Troy walked out of the door in a big rush and into his car. It didn't even take a minute for him to start the car and drive away. When he was finally down the road, Sharpay closed the door and felt her heart break again. The night reminded her far too much of when Troy left the house that dawn. Only then she wasn't so upset that he was gone, she was just scared to be alone, now she was feeling more than heartbroken.

"Mom, where did dad go?" Madeline asked making Sharpay turn around.

"He had to leave. Something important." She said with a fake smile.

"Oh. He didn't even talk to me." Madeline said looking down.

"I know. But I have something to tell you—go get your brother," Sharpay said with a weak look on her face.

Madeline smiled wondering what was the news her mom wanted to tell her. All she could think of was something happy and not terrible. She had enough terrible things that happened in her life already, she was sure that there weren't anymore horrible things that could possibly come.

"Daniel! Mom needs to tell us something about dad! Hurry up!" Madeline interrupted her brother's game.

Daniel groaned and stood up. He followed her to the front part of the house and met up with their mom. Sharpay sent them both a warm smile and sat them down on the couch across from her.

"I know, you're both upset that your dad didn't stay for as long as we all wanted, but I have good news any…he asked me if it was alright for you two to go to New York next week and spend two weeks with him. It's for the wedding, you know? Marissa." Sharpay's smile faded when she got to the wedding part.

Both Daniel and Madeline gave her an unsure look. That was when she knew she had to be more specific about this and give them every detail. They weren't little anymore; she couldn't fool them with silly excuses. They needed to know what was going on now and it was time for them to find out anyways.

"Your dad and Marissa are getting married in I believe—three weeks. Your dad invited all of us to go to the wedding, but I don't want to go." Sharpay started getting strange looks from her kids. "I don't want to go because, you know I don't like Marissa and I don't think I can—no—I know I can't handle seeing your dad with her, or another woman." She mumbled feeling tears shot up her eyes again.

"But why mom? Didn't you want dad to be out of y—"

"That was then Madeline! And I know it's my fault. You don't have to rub it in my face! I don't even want to think about this. All I'm trying to tell you is that you're going to New York for a wedding! You don't need to tell me how I'm the one who caused all of this!" Sharpay cried, tears falling down her cheeks.

"I wasn't…Mom…I wasn't saying it was your fault. I just wanted to know why you couldn't see dad with Marissa. I wasn't saying you're the one who did this." Madeline said feeling scared of her own mom for once.

Sharpay wiped her eyes with her fingers softly and took a deep breath. She didn't mean to go off like that. Her whole night was already ruin and she just felt like letting all her angers go. It was making her shatter by just thinking of Troy getting married.

"I'm sorry. I'm just really—I know I've made a mistake and if you two can try…don't bring up your dad—ever. I'm in a lot of pressure already. I don't want to get divorce but I don't have a choice and I can't handle this right now. Everything is just like then. I can't take it anymore!" She cried more standing up and walking out of the room.

Daniel and Madeline stared at each other. They both felt bad to see their mom crying again, but they were also really confused on why suddenly she was feeling sad about this whole thing. At the beginning it was her all happy while they were in their own misery, now it didn't make sense.

"You think you can get mom and dad to get back together?" Daniel asked his little sister knowing she could try better than him.

"No! I already tired. I'm not going to try anymore. It'll just make things worst like last time. I don't know what's going on!" Madeline screeched.

"Don't even try anyways. It's not going to change anything. Now it's dad who's being stupid. First it was mom, then it was both of them, and now it's dad. They both told us over and over that it was just going to be a separation, but now it's for real a divorce?" Daniel stood up looking at Madeline.

"I think that accident with mom and you a long time ago was telling her something. She shouldn't have done it. If she never went over there, mom and dad would have been together, at least just like what they were 'thinking'. But now, I don't know." Madeline said in a low tone.

"What accident?" Sharpay walked in the room, her eyes red around.

"The one years ago, when you and I slammed into some rocky hill, remember?" Daniel explained.

"No." Sharpay looked up at the ceiling trying to remember.

"Never mind. It was a long time ago. It was when dad first left." Daniel said walking out of the room.


	17. A Day At The Mall

The whole night was boring and restless. Sharpay found herself sitting on her bed doing nothing the whole time. When she finally managed to get up and walk around the house, she went to the kitchen to grab something to eat, food was the best thing to get her mind off certain things. When she got to the kitchen, Daniel and Madeline were both there snacking on ice cream.

"Want some?" Madeline asked lifting her bowl up to show Sharpay.

"No thank you, honey." She smiled grabbing an apple out of the fruit basket.

The kids had their own conversation while Sharpay just sat and listened. She didn't really find their conversation too interesting since all they talked about was school and their friends. During car rides, those would be perfect conversations to have with her, but times like these, it was just too boring.

"Tomorrow, we're going to the mall," She said out of the blue.

Daniel and Madeline stopped their talking and looked over to their mom. At first they thought she was kidding about it, but when she gave them her serious look, they figured it out.

"I'm just letting you know." Sharpay said before taking a bite of her apple.

The kids nodded and sat in silence, eating their ice cream bowl.

It wasn't long before the whole house was dark and everyone was sleeping. Madeline fell asleep on Sharpay's bed and Sharpay didn't feel like waking her up and telling to go over to her room, she already knew Madeline was in her deep slumber and felt bad about the idea of waking her up. Nothing else happened the rest of the night except for Madeline having her own dream this time about Troy. Sharpay couldn't really understand her, since she was awoken by Madeline's cry—in her sleep and she was still half asleep herself. All she could hear was Madeline murmur mom and dad over and over again. A few time she said Daniel's name, but Sharpay soon fell back asleep.

The next day, Sharpay was surprise to find Madeline out of bed and already in the living room watching TV. Usually she would still be asleep and Sharpay would have to pull her out of bed. Daniel was up too, playing his usual video game. Today was the idea that Sharpay thought would be a good time to spend some time with the kids at the mall. It was also her excuse to go and get some new clothes since she hadn't gone shopping in a really long time.

When they were in the car, it was all talks about what they would do at the mall. Daniel suggested that they go somewhere besides the mall or that they catch a movie, but Sharpay and Madeline disagreed with him and suggested they all go shopping. It was two against one, meaning Daniel lost. He felt really mad just thinking of how long it would take his mom just to get out of one store.

They started off by shopping slowly, mainly for Madeline at first, and then for Sharpay. Daniel didn't want much since all Sharpay offered him were clothes. He wanted a few video games but Sharpay told him that he was wasting his time playing those games that rot your mind.

Sharpay, Daniel and Madeline walked around the mall, carrying lots of shopping bags. Madeline was walking on one side of Sharpay, while Daniel was on the other side, lagging. Shopping was not his favorite thing to do, especially with his mom and sister, who took forever just to find the right thing. So far the summer vacation he was looking forward to wasn't going as planned. He was bored and tired of everything going on around him.

"Mom, I'm hungry," Madeline whined.

"Then let's go eat," Sharpay sighed walking towards the food court.

She was just having fun looking through colds. For once, Daniel was proud of his little sister for whining. Normally he hated it, but times like these were the best time to take breaks from shopping and hit the food court, his probably only favorite place in the mall—aside from the movies.

Madeline giggled and followed her mom to the nearest empty table as Sharpay sat her shopping's bags on one seat looking around where to eat. There were plenty of options to choose from. The only problem was, which one to choose. Did she feel like eating Chinese? Greek? Italian? Indian? Japanese? Mexican?

Daniel and Madeline sat their stuff down and looked around. The mall was very crowded today. It was always crowded on Saturdays, but not this bad. There were barely any room in the food court, no more chairs left for anyone to sit on, a lot of people were standing while eating.

"I want pizza," Madeline looked at the pizza joint.

Apparently, Madeline decided to make up her mind and Sharpay decided to agree with her since she hadn't had pizza in a long time anyways.

"I guess we'll all get pizza. You stay right here. Do not leave or talk to anyone. I'll be right there." Sharpay warned her kids, especially Madeline who had the tendency to just talk to anyone who ever came up to her.

Daniel was much move behave and she didn't feel so worried leaving Madeline there with Daniel to watch her. He was a pretty good brother when he wanted to. Sometimes he was a little annoyed with his sister, but it was only understandable. Madeline did get a little too kiddish sometimes towards him and he gets really annoyed when she did that.

Sharpay could see the two of them perfectly clear from where the pizza joint was.

"Don't you think this is boring?" Daniel asked looking around.

It was a dumb question to ask his little sister who was into shopping and she was so addicted to always going to the mall. In his eyes, the mall was just a place to eat and watch movies. He hated shopping and didn't see the point of having to try on so many different types of clothing. If they already knew what size they were, he didn't get why they had to keep on trying more and more clothes of the same size!

"Nope!" Madeline exclaimed.

"We should be with dad," He said.

"Why?" Madeline asked playing with her hair.

"Because...it's summer and we haven't seen dad since last week." Daniel explained watching his mom from afar.

"Mom said we can go in two weeks, can't you just wait?" Madeline asked sounding irritated.

"No. I can't. I don't want dad to get married to Marissa! I want him and mom to get back together. I don't want to give dad and Marissa any time alone together—I want mom and dad back together. I don't like them separated!" Daniel said, his voice high.

Madeline gave him a stupid look. She always thought her brother was insane, thinking that their parents were going to get together again. To her, it was too late now. She finally took in her mom's words and gave up about it. Her hopes were gone and she didn't want to start all over again.

"I like Marissa! Too bad!" The ten-year-old exclaimed.

"You haven't seen her for a year! And you didn't like her back when you first met her! And you didn't like Kevin either—I hate Kevin. I don't like him and I don't like Marissa either But it doesn't matter with Kevin—he and mom aren't together anymore." Daniel hissed at his little sister.

"You're evil." Madeline stuck her tongue out at him as she noticed her mom walking back.

Daniel stayed silent after that. He didn't want his mom to know that he was just arguing with Madeline about their dad again.

"What's up?" Sharpay asked noticing the sad looks on her kids' faces.

The two just shrugged and grabbed a paper plate. Neither one wanted to explain what they were just arguing about. After what their mom had requested about the not bringing up their dad, they never said one word to her that involved him. They didn't even ask her when they were going to meet up or anything. They just kept quiet and wait until their mom said something about it. The last thing they wanted was to get yelled at or to see their mom cry about their dad again. It took her a while to stop crying about him so both of the kids learned to just not even mention anything about Troy. Nothing to make their mom upset.

All three of them ate and shared their food, talking about how it was time to call it a day already since their feet were sore.

"Today I'm going to fill in the papers and send them in, you two need to get packing and just ready for everything." Sharpay said after chewing on a piece of her pizza.

"How long are we leaving for?" Madeline asked.

"Two weeks." Sharpay answered.

"Are you sure you don't want to go? It won't be that mad and dad invited you to. So just go mom. That way you won't have to be at home all alone and think about Kev—" Daniel stopped and tried to cover up his last sentence but it was too late and his mom already caught him.

"I'm not going to be thinking about Kevin, Daniel. I don't have feelings for him and he's not someone I'm going to sob about. " Sharpay said with a smile.

"Unlike dad." Madeline mumbled under her breath, only Sharpay heard her.

"Yeah I know. When you're at the wedding with your dad, tell him I said congrats and that it's finally nice of him to meet his perfect match." Sharpay said with sarcasm.

Daniel shook his head meaning there was no way he was going to be the one telling his dad that.

"Why can't you just run down the walkway mom and yell 'OBJECT'. Then you can stop the wedding and then dad will see you and…" Madeline trailed off not knowing what else to say.

"That only works in movies. It's not going to work and I would never do that. I would never embarrass myself in front of everyone like that. Plus your dad will just think I'm a fool." Sharpay said with a light chuckle.

Daniel shrugged and continued to eat his pizza. He remembered the times he was trying to get his mom to confess that life sucked without his dad, and he wanted to laugh at how he was right, but that would just get him in trouble. He wanted to tell his mom that if she would have just listened to him, none of this would have happened and no one would have had to cry over all these things. Even he could tell that their lives were just circling around the world.

"Are you and dad friends?" Madeline asked.

"I don't know. We haven't talked except for last night and that was only about him wanting to get divorce. I don't know what will happen after that." Sharpay answered honestly.

"Why didn't you tell dad last night that he didn't want to get a full divorce?" Daniel asked.

"I couldn't! He was inviting me to his stupid wedding! First of all, that was stupid—never invite your ex-wife, girlfriend or whatever that has an ex in front of to your wedding, never do that. That's just wrong and don't expect them to show up either. It's okay to invite the kids. I don't even know if I want you guys to stay over with your dad, but I kind a have to let you. He asked and it's only fair since you haven't seen him for a really, really long time." Sharpay explained.

"It is. But still mom, I can try to stop dad's wedding." Madeline said looking down.

'No! Don't you dare do anything to embarrass me Madeline. Don't. If you do, you will be in big trouble. The last thing I want is my daughter to screw up something I've already screwed with," Sharpay said.

Madeline nodded understanding her mom's request.


	18. Bored Sharpay, Crazy Kids, Mad Marissa

Two weeks. The kids were going to be away from her for two whole weeks. That seemed so long and she's missed them badly. They're been gone for a whole week and it's already felt like a whole year! Sharpay was glad to hear that they were having fun in New York, but it sounded like they were having much more fun with Troy that her. It felt like their parenting guides were going to be competing with each other now. She hated knowing they were happy with Troy and Marissa getting married. She wasn't even near the idea of them getting married. She was, until she started to feel that being parted from Troy was a big mistake and being with Kevin was beyond a horrible mistake.

Sharpay sat down on the patio chair again and looked around. The yard look seriously dead. She didn't like the gardener anymore since he kept on talking about Troy, so she fired him. She was too lazy to get a new gardener and she was even lazier to do the yard work herself. It was summer anyways, it's burning up and it's not worth it anymore.

Ever since the kids went off to New York with Troy, everyday had been so boring. Sharpay didn't have anything to do or anyone to keep her company during the day. Thinking about it now, having the kids around was really a lot of entertainment to her life. She complained about how she was locked up with them inside the house, now she wished she were locked up with them in the house. She had nothing to do at all. Picking up after Madeline or Daniel or even Troy would have been way better than just sitting on a chair staring at a dead front yard.

"This seriously stinks." Sharpay said taking a sip of her water bottle.

…..

"Madeline! Do you have your dress on properly yet?" Troy asked in an annoyed voice.

The whole morning was just going crazy. Madeline was not following any of Troy's orders; in fact she did the complete opposite. He asked her to cut the flowers out and put them in her basket, she just crushed them up and threw them away. Daniel was making him irritated too. The thirteen-year-old kept on saying that he would do something, and he would just stay seated the whole time and never does what he said he would. Troy kept on telling himself that the kids planned it just because of how good they were at making him really mad.

"No! This stupid dress just ripped!" Madeline screamed opening the bathroom door.

Troy examined her dress and nearly screamed. His wedding day could have not been any more hectic. Nothing was going right, at least from his point of view everything was going crazy. People were going to arrive soon and he still couldn't get Madeline out of the bathroom. He could see people already arriving at the hotel and everything was all set up.

"How did you rip it? What did you do?" Troy lifted her up and sat her down on the counter.

"I don't know. Marissa picked out the dress. It's all ugly and cheap." Madeline wrinkled her nose.

"No, this was not a cheap dress." Troy corrected her looking over the large rip across Madeline's stomach.

"Then why is it ripping?" Madeline said with her strong attitude.

Troy shrugged and got her off the counter. He told her to go find another dress in the hotel room, hoping there would be another one. Daniel was in the hotel room playing his video game in his pajamas still!

"DANIEL! What are you doing?" Troy shouted getting frustrated.

"Playing a video game." Daniel answered keeping his eyes on the TV screen.

"Ooh. Can I play?" Madeline asked even though she had no idea what is was and she was never into video games.

"No you cannot play that!" Troy said unplugging the TV making Daniel groan.

Daniel stood up and sat on the bed looking at Madeline who was for sure ripping her dress on purpose when Troy wasn't looking. He wanted to say something and tell his sister how smart she was for once, but he didn't want her to get caught so he thought about telling her later. Messing up their dad's wedding seemed to be working just well. Their mom told them not to do anything, but they didn't listen. Madeline finally came to conclusion that she hated Marissa and wanted her gone. So with a little teamwork, she and Daniel managed to set up a plan.

"You two! Get ready! Madeline get the other dress in the closet! Daniel put this—" Troy stopped noticing some sticky stuff streaming down Daniel's tux.

He looked at it oddly and sniffed it with his nose. It was honey. He had no idea how honey could have gotten into a nice, new tux. Another thing going wrong, with the wedding in twenty minutes.

"How in the world did this happen?" Troy showed Daniel the tux only Daniel just shrugged looking all-innocent.

Madeline jumped up and down trying to get the other dress down for the closet making just about every sound that she could possibly come up with to get Troy's attention. Troy rolled his eyes and got the dress down for her. He ordered her to go and get changed while he got a word with Daniel about his suit.

"TROY!!!! AAHH!!!!" Marissa's voice came echoing down the hall.

Troy groaned and looked towards the door to find Marissa half in her wedding dress while honey was all over her hair and it looked like bees had been following her with the few bee stings she had on her arms.

"What—how—what?" Troy's mouth fell open.

Marissa broke down crying and mumbling how horrible this was, while Daniel tried to hide all his laughed. He could see his sister poking her head through the little opening of the bathroom door, she was all smiles too.

"This cannot be happening!" Troy growled.

Everything was really going wrong. He couldn't believe his nightmare was happening on his wedding day—out of any day in the world it had to be on one of the most important day of his life.

"Daddy!!!!! Did your wedding with mom go this crazy?" Madeline asked walking out with her other dress on.

Troy shook his head.

"No. It wasn't crazy at all. Everything went as planned and my dream wedding happened. And so did your mom's." Troy answered forgetting that Marissa was right in front of him.

Daniel let out a loud laugh knowing that this dad had just said that in front of his bridge. Madeline giggled too; she asked him that on purpose knowing that her dad would say something similar to what he just said.

"Excuse me?" Marissa scolded at him wiping the honey off her hair.

"You look dead!" Madeline giggled.

"Madeline!" Troy hissed.

Madeline just did her cute smirk and crawled on the bed where Daniel was sitting. They were both trying their best not to let out a laugh. Though the scenery was pretty funny of Marissa trying to get all the icky stuff off her hair and face.

"Daddy, she looks really…ew." Madeline shot Troy a disgusted look.

Daniel knew to let Madeline say all the harsh things since she got away more with things and she was younger than him so it was easier for her to do it and not make a fool of herself than him. If he said something mean to Marissa, he knew his dad would probably smack him. But if Madeline did, all she would get was an angry look, nothing else.

"I know. I know. Madeline please, go get a damp towel." Troy rubbed his head.

"Okay!" Madeline skipped over to the bathroom.

She looked around for a towel and damped it in bleach instead of water. She snickered to herself and dragged the towel out with her. She handed it to Marissa with her angelic look and sat back down next to Daniel. Daniel whispered a few things in her ears and she laughed to herself when she noticed Marissa rinsing her face with the bleached towel.

"Ew! Gross!" Marissa threw the towel on the floor.

"What now?" Troy asked irritated.

"That isn't water!" Marissa screamed.

"Look—go take a shower. I'll tell everyone that it's being delayed and we'll get through with this. Go shower up, take your time. And relax." Troy took Marissa's hand in his.

He gave her a soft kiss on the lips and Madeline made a gross out sound while Daniel shouted "ew". Troy just gave them both a shut up look and walked away. Marissa left and walked to the bathroom.

"It's not working! Daniel!" Madeline cried tugging onto her brother's arm.

"I don't know what else to do and dad's getting mad at me. Just give up. Maybe dad will get divorce again with Marissa. We can try. It's too late." Daniel said going to the closet to get another pair of tux.

Madeline made a crying sound and stomped out of the room. She thought it would really work since her brother was the one who planned it all out and it was working so well.

"Madeline!" Troy grabbed her arm.

"Huh?" Madeline turned around to find her dad.

Troy looked at his daughter and made sure she was in good shape, no rip, and no honey, nothing that could mess her up. He smiled knowing at least she was all ready to go.

"Can I go home?" She asked with a whiney sound.

"No. Why?" Troy walked by her side down the lobby.

"I don't want to go to the wedding. I don't like Marissa! I want mom! I don't want you to marry Marissa!" Madeline stomped her feet.

"You liked Marissa before." Troy said with a puzzled look.

"When I thought she was just your friend! Daddy! I want you and mommy to get together again! I don't like not seeing you for months and then mommy's crying over you! You have to come back! Mom wants you back! Dad! Daniel and I want you back. Please?" Madeline begged with tears in her eyes.

"I'm sorry Madeline. But I can't. You'll get use to it and Marissa isn't a bad person at all. It's all right. Everything will be fine. Let's just get on with this wedding and everything will be fine again." Troy reassured her.

Madeline just shook her head. She didn't believe her dad. She didn't believe anyone anymore.

….

It was a two-hour delay but the wedding still went on. Madeline refused to throw the flowers, but Troy forced her too and he completely regretted it. Madeline decided to just throw the whole basket to Marissa's parents and hit them straight on the head. Daniel just stood there and he kept on telling Troy that he was going to loose the ring on purpose if he wanted him do this. So Troy told him to just go and sit down and he'll find someone else to do it. Both Madeline and Daniel ended up sitting at the back hating everything that was going on.

"This stinks! I hate this!" Daniel said in a loud voice making sure everyone heard him.

"I'm mad at you DADDY!" Madeline shouted from the back standing on a chair.

Troy looked back and shook his head. He tried his best to ignore them and get on with the wedding. Everyone else seemed to be getting the message of ignoring the two kids in the back.

"EWW!" Madeline screeched as soon as the priest said to kiss the bride. "You're making a big mistake dad! You're going to be crying one night wanting mom back and it's going to be too late!" She said loudly making everyone gasp.

After a while the guest couldn't take it anymore and Troy had to get Madeline taken back to the hotel room and Daniel along with her since he was still considered part of the whole mess.

This was a crazy chapter with the kids!


	19. Waking Up In The Wrong Place

_This chapter is going to throw you off……….and ummm you'll get the ending right away after reading this chapter…This is my twist-y moment—well the end of this chapter anyways. So just read and find out. You shall understand it—hopefully. If not, then the next chapter should explain it.

* * *

_

Troy sat down in the living room waiting for Sharpay to come down. He was getting a little bored, sitting here, with the kids across from him just staring at him. Ever since the wedding, it had been awkward silence between he and the kids. They didn't talk a lot, and he didn't have time to talk to them. He was busy with Marissa. They were trying to get their life together and just have the simple life they could possibly have. He wanted this marriage to be perfect. He already knew all the bad things and the things that he shouldn't do, he didn't want this marriage to go down the drain just like the one with Sharpay. He had to be more careful.

"I was very upset with you, you know that?" Troy spoke, not able to take the dead silence anymore.

"I'm upset with you too and I know you know that!" Madeline rolled her eyes, much like how Sharpay always does.

A lot of things were rubbing off Sharpay to Madeline and it started to scare Troy. He didn't want Madeline to start hating him too like Sharpay does—or did. She was already a little mad at him for yelling at her last weekend about the whole flower girl thing.

"Daniel, what in the world got to you two?" He asked making his eyes go to Daniel's direction.

"We didn't like Marissa." He answered.

"I got that." Troy said with a nod.

Sharpay finally came down the stairs and made her way to the living room. She figured she had made Troy wait long enough and she just wanted him out of the house now. He was starting to be a frequent visitor, which wasn't something good. That wasn't the point of the divorce. The point was to NOT see each other—not come whenever you feel like visiting just because you want to.

"Finally." Troy let out a breath standing up.

"Excuse me?" Sharpay narrowed her eyes at him.

"It took you long enough!" He snarled.

"Well sorry, I prefer to take my time—and I'm sorry you had to wait!" She barked.

Troy just looked at her, and then at the kids who had the same irritated looks on their faces. They wondered if their parents ever just had a normal—no yelling involve in the conversation. They were sick of it and it was making them feel uncomfortable. They thought everything would be different now that their dad has his wife and their mom had her space. But no, it was the same. They still argued and they still couldn't get along.

"Can we take this somewhere else?" He asked looking over at the kids.

Sharpay nodded and led him up the stairs. They walked inside the master bedroom and stood by each other.

"Can't they stay with me in New York for a while? It's still their summer break and I think I need to talk to them about what happened during the wedding!" Troy got straight to the point.

"No! They can't! You've had them long enough! " She said with a dramatic tone.

"Why not? You have them all the time. It's my turn to spend some time with them!" He exclaimed.

"You had them for two weeks Troy! Two weeks for the wedding. No!" She said.

"I know--why didn't you show up?" Troy asked adding a hiss at the end of his sentence.

Sharpay gave him a strong look. Clearly trying to tell him that he was being an idiot for asking her to come in the first place. She knew very well that he knew she wouldn't show up. Could he not see how she wasn't happy about the whole wedding thing and how much she despite Marissa?

They stood in front of each other, looking as pale as ever for no reason. The whole room looked really white and it didn't feel like they were alive. Sharpay didn't know what to do or say. She was standing in front of her ex-husband who showed up two days after his stupid wedding, asking her why she didn't show up. What ex-wife shows up at their ex-husband's wedding? Who wants to see the man she once love get married to some other woman? She really thought Troy was low and just stupid.

"You seriously thought I was going?" She asked with a smirk on her face.

"Well yeah." Troy scratch the back of his head.

"What gave you that idea? The kids can could, but I will never go to any wedding that involves you—except for the one with you and me. That was it!" She exclaimed making a few regrets of what she had just said.

No matter how much she tried of not saying the wrong thing, they all just came out anyways. She tried to think before she spoke, but the first thing that pops in her head are usually the first things she say, and most of the time they're the wrong things she say. She had noticed how every time Troy asked her something, she always came up the answers she would later on regret.

"And the kids ruined it all! They made sure I was having the worst day of my life! You know how embarrassing that was? The whole plane ride to here they were trying to ruin it too!" Troy hissed.

"I didn't tell them to do that if that's what you're thinking!" Sharpay said closing her eyes.

"Are you okay?" Troy's voice came sounding as sweet as ever.

"I'm fine! Why does everyone keep on asking me that? You have been for the past three years? What? Do I look like I'm sick of something?" Sharpay hissed getting sick of being asked the same stupid question everyday of her life.

She didn't look sick which made her not understand why Troy kept asking her that, or why Daniel or even Madeline. Nothing was wrong with her. Sure, she had a few dreamy moments where she'll just go off in her own world, looking crazy, but they're just sudden thoughts that come to mind. They weren't anything special or insane! She was hating how they all just asked her that like she was having some major decease and every time she heard one of them ask her that, she felt a warm touch against her body, which began to scare her. She would either fell it against her cheeks, or her hands. It wasn't a bad feeling, but it just came out of nowhere and it freaked her out.

"Then when are you going to open your eyes and see what's going on?" Troy asked his face looking suddenly pale.

"What are you talking about? Why don't you just go back with your wife? You have a new life now, Troy. Leave me alone." She shut her eyes, getting ready to curse at herself for saying the word "wife".

Troy gave her a bewildered look. Sharpay returned the look when she got the idea that he was just being stupid with her, or that he was trying to mess with her again like these past few years. He had done it so many times that she had learned when he would mess with her, even if she never got the reason and he never admitted it.

"I'm trying to save your life and here you are giving me crap about it!" Troy shot back getting tired of her bitterness.

"What are you talking about? Can you just shut up? I don't want to deal with this anymore!" She cried pushing him away.

"Why can't you just try to be my friend? It's not that hard and it would make my damn life easier!" He said walking closer towards her.

"It might make your life easier, but you've already ruined my life, so by seeing you right now is just making it worst. So why don't you go back to your little family and leave me alone!" Sharpay yelled getting ready to break down.

"I can't leave you alone! No matter how I try, you _have_ to be a part of my life because of Daniel and Madeline! I have to see them, they are my kids and I want to see them, you can't just keep on ignoring me—because I need to see my own kids!" Troy shot at her making her put on a horrified look.

"Stop it!" She stepped back getting really annoyed. "Just go away Troy. Go back with your stupid wife! Leave me alone. I don't need you and I'm much better without you. Stop confusing me!" She screamed.

"I can't let you go. And you can't go." He said calmly.

"You already let me go and I'm letting you go! Now go. You are obviously happier with Marissa—so just go and admit it—you love her more than _you_ have ever loved me!" Sharpay exclaimed feeling tears form around her eyes.

"I'm trying to live my dream life here—and for once, it's actually working! I found someone I really love and loves me back too—all I'm doing is asking to have the kids for the rest of their break and you're giving me a hard time about it! You won't let me live my life, because you don't want to be happy! You like seeing me in pain and that's all you care about! My misery!" Troy yelled, his face turning a shade of red.

"I don't enjoy seeing you in pain! I don't want to have the pain Troy! It's killing me, seeing you with her and knowing that you love her more than he will ever love me!" Sharpay cried.

"You should have said that before I walked out of the door. You have to remember this was all your idea! You're the one who told me to leave the house! You're the one who wanted to separate! You're the one who caused all of this! So if you have a problem with it—you can blame yourself! Because you're the only one to blame! It's not my fault that I don't love you! You're the one who stopped loving me—what am I suppose to do? Continue loving someone who hates me? I don't think so. Now you know the pain I went through! It's only fair for you to live it and deal with it!" He said yelling at her face.

Troy dozed off for a moment, staring at her. He was just taken back by her comment. He felt horrible seeing her like this and didn't know what to do. He never excepted this to happen, none of this. Everything just came so fast and soon he was finding out that everything was just moving away. He didn't realize how fast things were seriously moving. It was like within one blink and the days just went away that fast. It felt like it was just yesterday when he walked out of that door to start his so called "new" life.

"Fine, Sharpay. I love Marissa more than I have and ever will love you. See you around." He said before letting go of her hand, leaving her cold again and walking away.

Sharpay fell to the floor, her back resting against the wall as she slowly slid down, tears, once again streaming down her face. This time, Troy was really gone and he wasn't going to come back. Never. She knew it very well. All they've been doing was playing with each other's feelings and she knew one day it had to end, and today seemed to be that one day—or night. Now she felt a hard pain inside her, a pain she had never felt before in her whole entire life. It was like as if her world had suddenly fallen apart and she had no one. No one in life. Everything felt dim and cold.

All she could do was close her eyes and cry herself to sleep, against the wall of her bedroom.

"She's so cold, daddy." Madeline's voice whispered inside Sharpay's head.

She could feel her breath near her, only Madeline wasn't anywhere in the house. She was out with Troy. So was Daniel.

Suddenly, a very loud beep started to go off inside her head making her dizzy and annoying her. She carefully opened her eyes and looked up. Everything was really white. There were no windows on the wall, not pictures. Nothing. Just a white wall, filled with shelves. She wasn't at home anymore. She was at a hospital room?

"Troy?" She sat up looking around when she felt Troy's hand touch hers.

Troy stood up from his sitting position; he was just dozing off to sleep when he felt her jolt up. Sharpay looked slightly pale, and he could tell she was feeling cold by the look on her face. She also had tears in her eyes and he didn't know where those came from. She was only sleeping. Was she really that scared?

"Where—what—Troy?" She spoke looking around the room to friend Daniel and Madeline sitting on the couch across from her.

* * *

Dun..dun..dun..what could possibly have happened? Oh boy….. 


	20. Are You Okay?

**

Chapter 20

**

They looked like they were still—six and nine!

"What the--?" Sharpay sat up rubbing her eyes, where she could still feel the tears that were streaming down her face a minute ago.

She was almost blinded by the white walls surrounding her and the beeping was annoying her like crazy. She looked around the room, looking from Troy to Daniel to Madeline. Everyone just stared at her with smiles on their faces. They were so happy to see her awake for once.

"What's going on?" She asked looking over at Troy who looked very tired and his hair was all over his head.

"A lot has been going on. Are you okay?" He asked softly rubbing her cheeks.

"I'm fine. Why am I here? What happened?" She asked in a very confused tone.

"You don't remember?" Daniel asked walking over to her bedside.

"No—why are you…little?" She asked looking over at Madeline who suddenly had a confused look on her face too.

"You were in a car accident—about three weeks ago…with Daniel, coming back from Richard's house. I got a call from Daniel saying you weren't waking up, so I called an ambulance and they took you here, you've been pretty much in a coma for three weeks." Troy explained.

"Accident? That—but I woke up…Daniel asked me if I was okay—I woke up. What are you talking about?" Sharpay cried feeling dizzy.

"You didn't wake up. I was here that very same minute you were brought here, you didn't wake up. I whispered in your ear if you were okay…and…" Troy stopped looking at Sharpay's bewildered look.

"Where's Marissa?" She asked moving around the bed.

"Who's Marissa?" Madeline looked at her mom.

"Your wife!" Sharpay exclaimed at Troy.

"I don't have a wife—well—you…I don't know who Marissa is." Troy managed to choke out.

"No. Marissa…you moved to New York with her…got married….and we're divorce!" Sharpay snapped.

"No, I was planning on going to New York, but I never got the chance to go there because, well this. And I don't know who Marissa is. We're not divorce yet—I thought you agreed on _later,"_ Troy spoke.

"How long has it been since you left the house?" She asked rubbing her forehead from the headache she was getting.

"Five weeks now—but I haven't left the hospital if that's what you want to know. Remember you came over that day after two weeks of not speaking to each other to get paper works done? Then I guess you went to go see Richard with Daniel for help on this whole thing and I don't know what happened after that because I got a call from Daniel crying that you were dead. I had to go pick up Madeline from her dance thingy—after getting a call from her teacher that you never showed up and you weren't picking up your phone. The rest has been pretty much in this hospital." Troy explained feeling Sharpay's fingers slip between his fingers.

She began to cry again, not knowing why. She was just scared and confused of what was going on. Had she dreamt everything? But it seemed so real and it was so heartbreaking. It didn't make sense how it took her that far, how it just didn't stay in one time zone but it actually went at least three years later and everything that happened felt so realistic. When she cried, she meant it all, when she felt herself go cold she really thought she was falling down.

"I don't get it." She cried pulling Troy in for a hug.

Even if it was really just some coma and it's only been three weeks, she wanted to be in Troy's arms badly. The last part she could remember telling him how he loved _Marissa_ more than he ever loved her made her break into pieces and at that moment she thought she was screwed for ever. When Troy yelled at her, it made her cry and she just wanted to hug him so badly.

"But you were gone Troy. Am I dreaming this or was I dreaming before?" Sharpay looked up at him.

"Err—you're not dreaming this because I know I'm up…and…why are you…why—I thought you hated me." Troy uttered still holding her tight.

That was when it hit Sharpay. She understood now why her whole brain traveled her into the future—to show her what an idiot she was and what would happen if she just let Troy go like that. She didn't like the feeling of him not being around and she hated how she saw her life ending up that way. It definitely showed her the truth. Now she understood why she was longing for Troy so badly after finding out that he loved _Marissa_ more than her.

"I don't hate you! I was stupid! I shouldn't have told you to leave. I don't want you to leave me anymore. I felt everything that would happen if we continued to live apart from each other. I don't like it! I don't want it to happen! I was already in enough pain just dreaming about it! Think of how horrible it would be and how shattered I would be if it really happened! I don't want that Troy! I don't want to know that you love someone else more than you have ever loved me and I don't want to think about you with someone else! I was an idiot in the beginning Troy. I kept on yelling at you and I kept on telling the kids how much of a jerk you are and all these things that aren't true! I've learned my lesson; in the end it wasn't pretty. I ended up crying myself, entering some cold world while you're happy with someone…I don't know how to describe it but it was really painful…" She cried.

Daniel and Madeline exchanged glances not knowing what their mom was talking about. They've been in the hospital a lot too with their dad and they didn't notice anything odd.

"I don't exactly know what you're talking about by loving someone more that I've ever loved you or being with someone, because—I know you think I'm cheating on you, and you're not going to believe me since I've tried to tell you I'm not, but I'm not Sharpay. I'm not cheating on you. I love you. You know that. I wouldn't have stayed here for three weeks straight crying thinking that you might never wake up. I love you more than anyone else in the world and I've tried to tell you—you never listen to me. I didn't want to leave you, you wanted me to," Troy let out a breath.

"I do believe you. I made a mistake…and…I don't know what to do…I don't know what's going on. My head hurts! What am I doing here?" Sharpay screeched pulling herself away from Troy.

"Sharpay! Calm down. Look, it's okay. You're just probably really tired and if you want I can give you some space. Do you want me to leave you for a---"

"NO! Don't leave me!" She cut him off pulling him in for a hug. "I love you." She cried on his shirt leaving a wet stain but Troy didn't care.

"I love you too…" Troy kissed the top of her head, rubbing her back gently.

"Troy? Is—is it too late?" She asked sniffing his shirt with her cries.

"Too late for what?" Troy looked down at her.

"To say I'm sorry," She mumbled but Troy still heard her.

He was capsulated by her sudden words but a smile came across his face.

"No it's not too late." He kissed her lips lightly.

The two stayed quiet for a while, no noise was heard except for Sharpay's cries and the machine beeping softly now. Madeline was half asleep and Daniel was busy look around the room. Troy was still not getting Sharpay and Sharpay was really confused. Her whole dream just took her in a journey years from now showing her how her life will go around, circling until she solves the problem—before it's far too late.

"Can you come home?" Sharpay asked wiping her tears away.

"Yeah, of course." Troy smiled at her.

Sharpay smiled back. It felt so good to her that she had only dreamt it all, she was already beginning to think that she wouldn't be able to live her life anymore after Troy telling her that he loved who ever Marissa is more than he ever loved her. It scared her that she was in a coma for three weeks; it never felt like she was. Everything was so real and she actually knew Troy's thoughts. It was scary how she imagined the kids looking like that years from now and how everything was just simply real. Waking up in a hospital with Troy's hand holding hers and the kids across from her looking…. different from her last image of them was flat out weird. For all she knew this could be her dreaming and she would wake up again to find herself back in the horrible life she had just gone through.

Troy hugged her tightly, loving the feeling of her in his comfort again. It scared him the most hearing about how Sharpay was in some minor accident, even if it was minor, it still did cause a lot of worry inside of him knowing that she hadn't woken up for so long. It was only three weeks, but it felt much longer and he got so scared that she would never wake up—ever. He didn't want to think of her as gone forever when they just parted roughly and their lives weren't exactly on the right path. Luckily to him she woke up—of course it had to be when he was finally falling asleep at one in the morning, but he didn't mind after hearing her voice again for the first time in so long. As soon as he looked into her eyes once again, he felt like melting and it reminded him of the first time they ever made eye contact and just bloomed. Everything had been so scary the past few weeks; he seriously thought she would be in one of those ten-year comas or something.

"And Troy?" She whispered.

"Yeah?" He answered.

"Can we get a dog?" She asked with a smile across her face.

"That would be great." He kissed her softly on the lips.

"We're getting a dog?" Daniel exclaimed over hearing the conversation.

"We are?" Madeline woke up fully smiling.

Troy and Sharpay both nodded at their excited kids.

"You're coming back too, daddy?" Madeline asked walking over towards Troy.

Troy just nodded again.

"You do want me home right?" He looked over at Sharpay who was still holding on to him.

"More than ever." She replied. "Even if you've apparently been by my side this whole time, I just can't…my head is just going crazy. I had the strangest dream or whatever you would call it in my life. I really didn't know what was going on. Everything felt so…strange. But I did learn something from it though. I was wrong Troy. You know I was. I made a huge mistake. I really shouldn't have even accused you of anything." She closed her eyes feeling the warmth inside her.

"No, it's okay. You were right too. I shouldn't always go out with my friends and work. I need to learn to spend time with you and the kids. I was always at work and I hardly had time to be at home. I'm sorry." Troy gave her another soft kiss.

"Get a room." Madeline snapped with a giggle.

Troy and Sharpay both broke into laughter for the first time in so long. Sharpay felt so much better knowing time didn't just fly like that. The kids were still little and she was glad that she didn't waist too much time in her life and she was able to fix everything before it did get to the point she didn't want it to.

* * *

**Note: I'm not going to have a sequel to this story, but this isn't the ending since I thought it was kind a strange having this be the complete ending. I'll add just one more chapter with them at home again.**

I think you get the point that Troy's voice did come in every now and then when everyone kept on asking her "Are you okay?"…That was Troy. And when she felt her hand suddenly go warm from cold was because Troy was rubbing her hand the whole time…I don't know if you get it. If you have any questions just le tme know.


	21. Note

Change plans you guys. I know I said that I would write ONE more chapter for this story—well I changed my mind. Instead I'll write a sequel. But I won't start ANOTHER story; I'll just add it on here. It'll be like the **PART 2**. I just don't feel like making another story when I can just keep going on here.

But I can't start the story until **April 8th**. Because, it's Spring Break and I won't have a lot of time to even think of what to write. I'm going to Disneyland this week…**ALL WEEK**… _((I only live like an hour away, but relatives are coming and we're all staying at the Disney hotel so yeah…. mom said NO COMPUTER)) _Then I'm going to New York for two weeks, in New York I'll be able to write, but not all the time so I'm just letting you know to expect the second part of the story around **April 8**.

Sound good to you?

Oh and this was a way of telling you too that I won't be updating my stories until April. So until then, see you.


	22. Day At The Park

**Circles Part 2**

**Note: **This won't be a really long story. Only ten chapters. That's pretty much it. I don't have a lot of plans for this so I'm keeping it short, but it'll be a strong story. It won't have a lot of drama like the last one, but it'll still have a few—maybe towards the end. I guess this is the happy part of their life as a family or something. It's definitely much sweeter.

This first chapter is just a sweet family day at the park. Not much.

* * *

_I hope you enjoy it and if you get any ideas along the way, let me know!_

The Bolton household was once again pretty quiet. Saturdays were usually calm days when the kids both slept in late or they're just too lazy to move around and talk…

"So daddy, what are we going to do today?" Madeline asked Troy ever so sweetly.

Troy sat down his newspaper and looked up at his daughter who was looking anxious to do something active. It was still pretty early to him to get out and do something, it was Saturday, a day to relax…. of course with the family and the kids never really chose an activity that was relaxing.

"I don't know, what do you suggest?" He asked giving her a smile and a signal to come closer.

"I think we should…go to the park with Buddy!" Madeline exclaimed taking her time to come up with other ideas.

"We could do that. Go tell Daniel and mom." Troy gave her a nudge to leave the room.

Madeline skipped her way out of the room and went towards the family room knowing her brother would be there playing a video game or something. That was usually what he did every morning when he got up.

Troy got up from his office chair and walked upstairs to wake Sharpay up. Lately she had been sleeping in really late, ever since she got back from the hospital, two weeks ago she went to sleep early and woke up very late. It got Troy slightly worried that there were times when she wasn't herself, but she looked fine to him. When he entered their bedroom, Sharpay was still cuddled under the comforter, sound fast asleep. It killed Troy to wake her up but it was almost noon and they both promised the kids they would do something today, along with the new dog.

"Shar…" He whispered crawling on top of her.

"What?" She groaned keeping her eyes close.

"Time to wake up." He kissed her forehead trying to get her to open her eyes.

"Not now." She covered her face with the comforter.

"Shar…Madeline wants to go to the park. Come on." Troy pulled the comforter off of her body.

She let out a loud groan feeling the chills through her body, but she managed to sit up and rubbed her eyes open. Her hair all over her face, very messy from all the moving she had done the previous night.

"You and your morning glory. Come on. Get ready." Troy slapped her shoulder gently hopping off her legs.

Sharpay pushed the covers off her body and stepped onto the carpet. It was a nice day, she could already tell. What made it even better was that it was a day for the whole family to just be together, a day she'd been looking forward to for what seems like forever. When she returned from the hospital, she was still pretty weak and confused with everything so she spent most of her time sleeping and relaxing. No time for the kids the first week or anytime to really do anything. Lucky for her, Troy did most of the handling and it felt really good to know that. She still wasn't over the fact that she just had a whole time travel dream. She was too scared to make mistakes, one mistake could lead back to it…. and she did not want that to happen.

She and Troy were getting along just fine, she wasn't sure now why they were even separating in the first place. Obviously there wasn't any need to that now. That guilty feeling still stuck inside of her for all the times she's yelled at Troy and just made a point to prove to him that she didn't need him anymore. She sure proved herself wrong.

"What time is it?" She yawned taking a glance at Troy.

He looked across the room to get the exact time from the counter clock, and then let out a chuckle.

"Half past noon."

Sharpay gasped and humbled to the bathroom. She had wasted half the day by sleeping already. It wasn't as bad as the other day when she couldn't get out of bed until late at night when Madeline started asking for dinner.

"I'll be down soon!" She shouted closing the bathroom door.

Troy nodded to himself and walked out of the room. He could already hear the dog barking like crazy. He wasn't exactly use to having a dog in the house, running around, but he loved dogs. The dog the kids picked out was just crazy and always ran around—for being a little thing it sure made a lot of mess.

"Keep him still, Daniel." Troy said passing the kids and Buddy.

"He keeps on moving." Daniel scolded.

"Hold still!" Madeline cried.

Troy rolled his eyes and helped the kids get the dog on the leash.

It took the three of them a long while before they finally got Buddy to settle down and got the leashed latched to his caller. When they did, Sharpay was already ready to leave.

The four of them got in the car and headed to a family park where the dog could run around free. It was the first time in a while that Sharpay actually got out of the house. She was just too lazy to get up and get on with life, and no one ever bothered her so she figured to just make use of her time while she could.

"Are you going to play with us, mom?" Daniel asked as they got out of the car.

"I think I'll just sit and watch." Sharpay answered walking directly towards the bench.

It wasn't exactly a day for her; it was mainly for the kids. They were the ones who wanted to run around the park with the dog. Troy wasn't going to run around either, he probably will end up playing catch with the dog, but he wouldn't be the one mainly doing all the playing. Thought he was more the sporty one than Sharpay.

The two couple both sat next to each other on the bench and watched their kids run around and playing Frisbee with the dog.

"Still sleepy?" Troy whispered giving her a soft kiss on the lips as he moved his arm around her shoulder.

"Nah." Sharpay smiled resting her head on his chest.

Daniel looked back at his parents and was glad to have his regular life back to normal. He was so upset without his dad in the house because he hated not having anyone to attend his basketball practice regularly. He just didn't feel like he had a real family without his dad around—or when he was at the hospital talking to his dad about this whole thing. It made him feel bad how his dad kept on telling him that he shouldn't give his mom a hard time about this whole thing…

Madeline felt the same way too. She missed her dad; she missed the nights when he was around forcing her to go to sleep, even if she hated that. It was two full weeks without Troy around and it was really dull. When he was around they were all stuck in the hospital for three whole weeks glooming around doing nothing. All they did was stare at Sharpay who slept and did nothing.

"That was exciting." Madeline said with a giggle to herself.

Daniel gave her a strange look but he didn't question her. They continued to get on with the game. Until Madeline decided she wanted to rest and ran back to her parents leaving Daniel alone with Buddy.

"What? You give up?" Troy asked his daughter who made herself comfy on his lap.

"No!" Madeline giggled.

**

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I haven't written the next chapter yet so I have no idea what's a head for the family so I can't really give you the head ups. But I guess if you have any ideas for me just let me know. I'll be glad to hear them. **


	23. Going To The Doctor

_Note: Sharpay's mom enters this chapter and she's divorced to Sharpay's dad so I didn't know what to call her—I'm just going to leave her as Ms. Evans okay?_

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Sharpay opened her eyes to the sound of Troy opening the bathroom door. She looked around to find him already showered and almost dress for work.

"Morning." She mumbled still laying on the bed.

"Good morning." Troy flashed her his boyish grin. "Sleep good?" He asked looking for socks.

"Yup." Sharpay mouthed to him.

She was still pretty sleepy and Troy could tell.

"Did I snore too loud last night?" Troy asked running his fingers through is wet hair.

He knew he was pretty tired last night and usually he snored like crazy. He just hoped he didn't keep Sharpay up all night. She had told him that he sounded like a monster sometimes. She hadn't complained about him much since their separation but he just thought she was just trying to put on a good image for the first impressions, he wasn't sure if it would last long or what.

"You snored yes." Sharpay answered.

"Sorry, did I keep you up?" He asked.

"No. It helps me sleep Troy hearing you snore. It's comforting." She smiled at him.

"Oh really?" He asked walking over to her and giving her a kiss on the lips.

Sharpay giggled and sat on the bed. She always liked watching Troy getting ready for work. She thought it was funny watching him run around trying to make sure he didn't forget anything. It was also soothing knowing that she got to tell him good-bye for the day before he left. She always woke up before him anyways. Just about half an hour before he got up she walked downstairs to start the coffee pot and then head back upstairs to sleep in. Then she would hear Troy turning on the shower and she would just sit on the bed listening to him humming and talking to himself like an idiot.

"You're so happy now—what happened to all the 'Go away Troy. Don't touch me', days?" He asked sitting next to her on the bed.

"That was then. I was stupid for complaining about everything you did. Because trust me—I don't know how I would be able to live without you." She smiled.

Troy rolled his eyes and gave her a quick kiss.

He got up to stand in front of the dresser mirror to work on his tie. He fixed his hair first though then looked back at Sharpay.

"I'm taking a half day today. Don't be surprise to find me home around noon." Troy said looking at the mirror tying his tie.

Sharpay smiled at him through the mirror as she sat up on the unmade bed.

"I'm going to the doctor's today. Major headache." She yawned.

Troy nodded.

"You'll be fine."

"I know." She stood up.

"I'll see you later then." He said giving her a good-bye kiss.

"Bye." She returned the kiss.

She decided to go take a shower and get ready for the day. The kids were most likely sleeping and she knew she had to wake them up soon after the shower….

Sharpay pulled up in front of her mom's house and sighed. She didn't know what was wrong with her, but ever since she came home from the hospital she hadn't exactly been active or "wide" awake. Troy told her she was just getting back in place since she was in a coma for three whole weeks. But yesterday, she felt a huge headache and couldn't take it anymore.

"How long do we have to stay here for?" Daniel asked in a whiney voice getting gout of the car.

Sharpay knew her kids weren't exactly attached to her mom. They didn't behave too well for her; well Daniel was the well behave one. Madeline tends to go crazy when she has to be watched by Sharpay's mom and takes advantage with a lot of things. The kids were always telling Sharpay how boring it is at their grandma's house and how mean she is.

"A few hours. I won't be too long." Sharpay answered following the kids to the front door.

Madeline rang the doorbell at least about six times before Sharpay finally came into sense and pulled her away from the button.

"Relax." She said firmly holding onto Madeline. "Behave for grandma."

Madeline rolled her eyes and stayed put. She stood steadily next to her brother and held on to her mom, patiently waiting for their grandma to open the door. Sharpay knew not to rush her mom with anything and every time she came over, Madeline always pressed the doorbell over and over until the door opened. Sharpay's mom had told her many times how much that irritates her and that she needed to do something about her daughter. Her mom wasn't exactly fond of anyone but Troy. She didn't like Sharpay too much nor did she like the kids. The only reason Sharpay asked her to watch the kids was because she couldn't get a hold of Troy's parents and she didn't trust Madeline or Daniel with anyone else. It wasn't that she didn't trust her friends; she just didn't trust her kids with her friends. She was aware of how Daniel and Madeline always got out of hands and they were pretty spoiled when it came to getting what they wanted.

"Can she hurry up?" Madeline asked getting impatient.

"She's o—mom!" Sharpay smiled briskly.

"Uh. Come in." Ms. Evans opened the door wide to let all three of them in.

"Well, thanks for your time mom. I'll be back soon, so don't worry." Sharpay got straight to the point not wanting to havoc anymore time.

"Yeah yeah. Why is it that you need me to watch them again? You're doing what?" Ms. Evans inquired.

"I have a doctor's appointment and Troy's at work." Sharpay answered.

Her mom gave her a devastating look. It was a look that Sharpay learned to picture well and she learned what it meant. Her mom use to flash her that look every time she thought she was lying.

"Mom, I have a doctor's appointment." She repeated trying to get the reason in her mom's head.

"Doctor's appointment? You better not be pregnant again! I am not taking care of another one of your—"

"Mom! I'm not pregnant. I know that for sure. I think I have enough kids." Sharpay spoke heading for the door.

She didn't want to be late for her appointment and she wanted to get out of her mom's house. She didn't mean to even come in the house, all she wanted was to drop the kids off and then head over to the hospital, she thought maybe a three minute walk-in the house deal, but her mom was just getting to her again.

"You think? One would have been enough. At least Daniel turned out more like his father than Madeline who had to be your spitting everything!" Ms. Evans retorted.

Sharpay rolled her eyes. It was so like her mom to say some trashy things about her. It was making her even antsy knowing the kids were right in the same room listening to the conversation. The way Madeline was looking at her grandma made Sharpay wished she never thought of dropping the kids off with her mom.

"I have my daddy's eyes!" Madeline joined in.

"Yes dear, I know that! But that doesn't do anything." Ms. Evans exclaimed.

"Alright mom, I'll be back later. Don't hurt my daughter. I only have one." Sharpay opened the door.

"Knowing you and Troy you can probably pop one out in—"

"Bye mom!" She cut her mom off. "I'll be back kids!" She slammed the door shut behind her.

With that Sharpay walked out of the front yard and into her car. She had been very protective with the kids now and she always wanted to spend time with them. Troy had offered her to open up her own drama club or even have her own musical theater group, but she didn't accept the offer. She was glad that Troy cared to make her dreams come true as she had yelled at him about wanting to have her own job, but now she changed her mind. Back then she would have taken the offer in a heartbeat, but after seeing how fast three years can go, she wanted to make sure she got to stay home and monitor everything that went on with her kids.

"I better be okay." Sharpay said to herself parking in front of the hospital.

She walked inside and asked for Dr. Meyers right away. Dr. Meyers was her doctor for everything, since she was pregnant with Daniel—to Madeline—and even through the accident.

"What have you been feeling?" Dr. Meyers asked.

"Major headaches…weakness…I've been sleeping a lot too." She explained.

"No throwing up or stomach aches? Morning sickness? Nothing like that?" The doctor asked.

"No. None of those. I'm not pregnant." Sharpay spoke narrowing her eyes. "Do I look fat or something?" She asked looking down at her stomach.

"No. No. Just making sure. You never know." Dr. Meyers winked at her.

"It's been seven years since I gave birth…I don't remember the pain anymore and I don't want to feel the pain. Not happening." Sharpay rolled her eyes.

"I know. I know. I'm just trying to narrow down the possibilities. Is Mr. Bolton aware of what's going on?" The doctor spoke looking through Sharpay's files.

Sharpay nodded, "Yes, he knows."

"Alright, well I don't think it's anything big. I'll just run a few test and we'll see what's going on alright?" Dr. Meyers smiled at her.

She nodded once again and watched as the doctor walked out of the room leaving her alone. She let out a huge sigh and grabbed her purse to call Troy. She knew she shouldn't be bothering him for no reason but she just wanted to talk to him.

"Hey!" He answered.

"Are you busy?" Sharpay asked.

"No—why? Is everything okay?" Troy asked starting to get worried.

Sharpay could hear people in the background talking and she wasn't sure if Troy was at some meeting or something.

"Yeah, everything is fine. She's just going to run some test on me. I just wanted your comfort—I guess." She smiled though Troy couldn't see her.

"Do you want me to come over then? Because I can come if you want." Troy offered.

"No. No. I won't be long. I just wanted to tell you that everyone has been—okay not everyone just my mom and the doctor, well they've been scaring with thinking I'm pregnant! Do I look fat to you?" Sharpay asked frowning.

Troy laughed on the other line trying to think of an answer.

"No. You don't look fat, Shar." He said trying to sound serious only Sharpay could tell he was still laughing.

"Tell me the truth!" She demanded.

"You look exactly the same as—high school. Don't worry about it. You're not fat." Troy stated.

"I'm not pregnant either. I'm just having headaches—nothing else. If Madeline tells you I'm pregnant, I'm not. My mom just assumed that and she heard it. Trust me, I'm not." She said making sure Troy understood her.

"Alright, I got you." He chuckled.

"Now I have to go. Bye." She said hearing footsteps.

"Bye. Love you." Troy spoke.

"Love you too." Sharpay hung up the phone and tucked it back inside her purse.

Dr. Meyers walked in the room with a shots and things Sharpay had no idea what were for. She just sat there and took a few tests and she did receive one shot though. Most of the time it was just talking and questioning her about what could have been giving her headaches. The doctor checked on her heart pulse and everything looked perfectly healthy.

In the end Dr. Meyers alerted her that there was nothing wrong with her. She was just recovering from last month and that a few pain reliever pills should do the trick. Sharpay felt calm after that and rushed to her mom's house not wanting to keep the kids there any longer. She had already taken longer that she expected.

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_Well.. you know what to do! Review…_

_I tried to add this chapter five days ago but the site wouldn't let me!! _


	24. Uh Oh

Sharpay drove back to her mom's house and stayed seated in the car for a while. She was too lazy to get up and walk to the door. She wished she could just call and tell her mom to send the kids out to the driveway, but that would be very rude and she didn't want her mom to hate her even more.

Her head was still pounding like crazy but it made sense why it was just some minor headache, she had been in a lot of deep thoughts lately and most of them could lead to depression—but she knew better than to be depress, she had everything going. Troy had to be the best husband ever and the kids weren't giving her a hard time, the dog wasn't doing anything to her either. She had no reason to shut her life off. Maybe the past had been a huge mess but it was the past, she had to let it go soon before it started to really haunt her.

"Don't want that to happen." She said to herself looking at the mirror before turning the car off and getting out of it.

She approached the front door and pressed the doorbell button once. Her guts kept on telling her to push it one more time since her mom was taking forever, but she decided not to and wait.

When finally, her mom's head popped through the small opening of the door.

"The kids?" Sharpay spoke eyeing her mom.

"Hang on." Ms. Evans closed the door.

It started to frighten Sharpay just a little that her mom wasn't letting her in. What could she have done to her kids now?

It must have been another five minutes until the kids came running towards the door with smiles on their faces and yet sad to say good-bye to their grandmother. That was something strange.

The two little ones skipped to the car happily, making Sharpay puzzled.

This was something that never happened before.

"Where were you?" Madeline asked being her usually "I want to know" self.

Sharpay let out a breath and got seated in her seat before turning around to face her daughter.

"At the doctors." She answered.

"Why?" Madeline asked right away.

"Just for an appointment. I wasn't feeling too well." Sharpay smiled and turned back to face the steering wheel.

"Are you okay then?" Daniel asked his mom as soon as they were a few minutes on the road.

"I'm fine. Just something minor." Sharpay answered looking back at the rear view mirror to get a glance at Madeline who was trying to open her lollipop.

To Sharpay's surprise the kids actually had a good time with her mom. She even gave them candy, which she hoped had nothing strange in them knowing her mom she could have easily snuck something inside the little candies she gave the kids. But she knew her mom wouldn't kill anyone, she may hate a lot of people but she'd never killed anyone before. And she doubted that her mom would harm her kids—they were after all still her blood.

_'Okay. I seriously need to stop thinking like that. This is beyond insane…I'm sounding like a freak talking to myself like this. Shut up Sharpay!'_ She cursed herself keeping her anger inside.

"What exactly did you guys do?" She asked looking from Madeline to Daniel.

"We watched TV. Had cookies and that's it." Daniel explained.

Sharpay just nodded. That wasn't like her mom. Usually her mom would go back to her knitting or whatever and make the kids sit for two hours with nothing. She wasn't complaining or anything that maybe her mom finally took interest with her kids, but it was rather weird since her mom was just yelling at her before she left.

"What are we doing now?" Madeline asked.

"Going home. Your dad will be home soon." Sharpay answered.

"Isn't he working?" Daniel asked.

"He's coming home early though. Why. Got a problem with that?" Sharpay smirked.

Daniel shook his head and looked back over at his sister. Their mom was sure cranky.

But that's how Sharpay always was when she felt stress. It was also the fact that she didn't get much sleep.

As soon as they got home Troy was already home. He was barely walking in the house too.

_Perfect timing._

"Daddy! Daddy!" Madeline screamed running out of the car to greet Troy.

Troy hugged his little daughter and patted Daniel's head. Daniel just smirked and walked inside the house. He needed the bathroom.

Sharpay approached him and gave him a small smile. He returned the smiled and led her inside the house where the kids seemed to have disappeared. They were always like that, running from one place to another.

"How was your day?" She asked her husband who looked like he would faint any second.

"It felt long." Troy said in a lost expression giving Sharpay a simple peck on the lips.

She giggled at his face but didn't hesitate to kiss him back.

"Your appointment? Did it go well?" He asked leading her up the stairs.

She nodded and took his hand as they walked up the stairs together.

"Good." Troy gave her hand a tight squeeze.

He didn't want to hear any terrible news. There was no way anything or anyone could mess up the family he had now—the perfect family he always wanted. Everything couldn't have been any better. He had his lovely wife back in his arms and well again. He had his son who was the same Mr. Basketball like always and his daughter who couldn't have been any sweeter. Life is perfect.

"So what are we going to do this summer? I can take off time anytime you want," Troy spoke when they reached the bedroom.

Sharpay just gave him and "I don't know" look and made her way to the bad where she sat down.

"Stuff." Sharpay giggled.

She didn't know what to say. All she wanted was to not stay at home bored the whole time, after all she had no work to go to and she had nothing to do. Their friends weren't anywhere around, since everyone sort of lives far away. Mainly she just wanted to hang out with Kelsi since there wasn't exactly anyone else to hang out with. She never got along with anyone else, but Kelsi…and Jason... and Zeke….and that was pretty much it.

Troy took off his suit and undid his tie while trying to think of some suggestions. They always took trips when the kids were out of school. But now they were running out of ideas since they've done pretty much everything and have gone everywhere. At least to all the places Daniel and Madeline would enjoy.

He could tell Sharpay was thinking too. She was looking straight at the wall with her usual thinking look on.

"Maybe we should visit our friends this summer. It's been a long time—oh no we should have them come over—it'll be fun. Everyone can come and stay for a week or so. Don't you agree?" Sharpay suggested.

She figured it might be a good thing. She might be able to put on a different side and actually become friends with _Troy's_ friends. And maybe she and Gabriella could hang out some more since there was nothing bad about that girl anyway. She was just some regular hard working girl getting on with her life and Sharpay realize that after the phone call of Gabriella wanting a few weeks off from work.

Troy nodded. It was good an idea. They didn't always have to leave the house. It would be fun having everyone together again since it has been a very long time—well with all of their friends together. He had seen Chad and Taylor a while ago but Ryan or Gabriella or Jason…Zeke…or Kelsi.

"That's a good idea." Troy agreed.

"I'll call them all tonight and see who can come. It'll be fun—as long as the kids behave." Sharpay smiled. "And hopefully your friends will come. You know how they are." She added in a softer tone.

"They will Shar. They like you. I don't know why you don't think they like you. They really do. You're my wife, they know I love you, and they know you love me. They like you. Stop making yourself believe they don't." Troy walked over to her and planted a light kiss on her forehead.

"I don't know why. I just get this vibe that they don't!" She exclaimed.

"But they do. I know it. Believe me." He said with a pout hoping she would buy his "cute" look.

Sharpay just giggled and punched him playfully on the arm, making him jerk back and rub his arm as if it hurt.

"Okay, I believe you, Troy. Just hope the kids behave." She smirked.

"They will." Troy rolled his eyes.

"You know they had a _WONDERFUL_ time with my mom today?" Sharpay said watching Troy sit down next to her.

He narrowed his eyes down at her. That wasn't something you heard a lot. No one ever has a wonderful time with Sharpay's mom. Though he didn't find her too mean... to him anyway

"Okay, what did she do to them?" Troy chuckled.

Sharpay shrugged and looked at the wall.

"They just told me they had fun and it looked like they had fun. It didn't make sense since my mom was trashing me when I got in her house; she was okay with Daniel, just not with Madeline. I swear, my mom is crazy." She shrugged looking at Troy.

"She's not so bad." He laughed.

"To you! She has something against Madeline and me. She likes Daniel, she likes you, and she likes Ryan. What is with her only liking the boys?" Sharpay snapped.

Troy just shrugged. He never thought about it before. He actually never talked to Sharpay's mom unless if he had to so it didn't occur to him that what his wife had just said was true. Sharpay had always complained about how her mom was so strict and never had anything positive to say; when he met her he thought she was one of the nicest people he had ever met…. He never understood Sharpay then. After a while of being with Sharpay he, suddenly started to notice that her mom was only nice when he was around or towards him.

"I don't really care. I'm glad she and the kids got along today." Sharpay spoke standing up, walking towards the dresser.

"By the way, I thought we should go out for lunch." Troy winked taking off his shoes.

"I like that idea. I didn't even think of eating lunch today!" Sharpay exclaimed totally forgetting.

"Good thing I came to the rescue. My poor little kids would be dying of hungry if daddy didn't come huh?" He joked.

"Sure Troy. Your kids would be starving—sure…Right Troy…" She rolled her eyes giving him a romantic kiss on the lips.

They broke the kiss after a while and just stayed in each other's arms—for the nice comforting feeling.

"We should get ready." Sharpay whispered.

"Yeah. I'll go take a quick little shower since I feel all sweaty!" Troy laughed.

"Okay you go—"

"DAD! SOMEONE NAMED GABRIELLA IS AT THE DOOR!" Daniel's voice echoed through the house.

Troy and Sharpay looked at each other in shock. Troy gave a really guilty look. He didn't see this coming. He really didn't even think of Gabriella at all and he wasn't up to anything—he just didn't want Sharpay to think he was up to anything. From the start he never had anything for Gabriella—so hopefully Sharpay didn't throw her dramatic effect again.

Sharpay had worries in her eyes like she didn't know what to expect. She trusted Troy. She really did. She just didn't want anything else to happen. She knew Troy wouldn't do anything like that, she learned that already.

**

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(Lol you guys, Sharpay's not pregnant… It's not a big problem. Just like to clear that up) It's been a while… I know. But hey, Testing is over tomorrow—so that's good news!)**

**Review Let me know what you guys though of this chapter and let me know if you have any suggestions… I'm open for those. You know that!**


	25. Surprises and Secrets

"Gabriella?" Troy spoke after a few seconds.

Sharpay shrugged. She wasn't going to make a big deal about it. Obviously, if Gabriella came to their house she must have had a good reason.

"Well? Go see what she wants!" Sharpay ordered.

She found it rather stupid that Troy was just standing there staring at her blankly when he had a guest downstairs waiting to be greeted, for whatever reason.

"Come with me." Troy spoke hoping to prove to her that there was nothing going on that could possibly cross her mind.

Sharpay nodded and followed him downstairs.

Daniel had already let Gabriella in since she was sitting on the living room couch, just staring at the TV.

Gabriella stood up as soon as she felt Troy and Sharpay's eyes on her. She greeted them both with a warm smile; she hadn't seen Sharpay in a long time. She could tell that Sharpay didn't seem too happy to see her but she forced herself to smile back anyway. Troy just nodded, like always.

"Can I talk to you? Privately?" Gabriella spoke looking directly at Sharpay though her question was meant for Troy.

Troy looked at his wife who just shrugged again and turned around to leave the room. She didn't look mad at him, but he could sense that she was. Something just told him. He looked back at Gabriella who was now looking down at the carpet.

He had no idea what to say. It would have helped if he knew what she was here for Obviously not about work…. That's when it hit him.

"So…." He murmured silently catching her eyes.

"About our little secret…." She started.

* * *

"Who was _that_?" Madeline jumped trying to look over the counter.

Sharpay let out a sigh and shrugged again.

"Do you know her?" Madeline asked sitting on the stool she managed to climb on.

"Sort of. She went to my school…back then." Sharpay answered handing the little girl a bag of cookies.

"What's her name?" The little girl asked opening the bag of cookies.

She was a curious little one.

"Gabriella." Sharpay responded closing the kitchen cabinet.

Madeline, oddly, giggled.

"Is she your friend?" She asked.

Sharpay sat across from her and grabbed a cookie.

"Sort of. I never really was close to her." She admitted.

"Is she daddy's friend?" Madeline asked.

"Yeah. I think so." She answered.

The rest was silence.

Sharpay couldn't really concentrate on talking since she was curious to find out what Troy and Gabriella were talking about, but if she just snuck in the room and listened, there was a large possibility that Troy might catch her and then they would go through that whole argument again about not trusting him with anything. That, she didn't want. All she wanted was to know what exactly was going on. She knew she could just ask Troy, but part of her was scared that he would lie to her about it. She didn't really know the truth.

"What are we going to do today?" Madeline asked breaking the silence.

"I don't know. Go find your brother." Sharpay suggested.

She wanted to be alone for a little bit, and knowing Madeline, she would probably end up asking questions after questions that weren't easy to answer.

The little girl nodded and followed her mom's instruction.

It wasn't long before yelling filled the house. Madeline was of course, screaming out Daniel's name, thinking of the easiest way to find her brother.

……….

"Just make sure that Sharpay doesn't know—she can't know. Whatever we do, she can't. Chad and Taylor already know…I told them a while ago and they were happy. So don't worry about them—Zeke knows too, he is in for the idea. Kelsi…I'll tell her and Jason…. Ryan…You want to tell him?" Troy smiled.

"I'll tell him. You chicken. " Gabriella laughed.

"Sharpay's already planning on inviting everyone over for the summer, so it'll go well. I'll tell you more about it—like date wise when she tells me, okay?" He asked.

"Okay." She nodded.

"Then I'll see you in a little while." He nodded.

"Right. See you." Gabriella stood up and walked towards the door.

Troy opened the door for her and closed the door behind her.

He smiled to himself and walked down the hall to find his wife.

The first room her looked in was the kitchen, since he noticed Sharpay spent most of her time there. Sure enough, she was there sitting by the counter.

"Hey." He spoke walking towards her.

She looked up and smiled, uncomfortably.

"What was that about?" She asked right away.

Troy just smiled, making her confuse. She couldn't tell if that was some suspicious smile or something good happen—something that she might like.

"She just wanted to tell him that she wasn't going to be working for me anymore since she's moving out of the state with her husband." He spoke sitting across from Sharpay.

She gave him a puzzled look. To her it looked like Troy was happy that Gabriella had quit her job, but she couldn't understand why. Was he trying to prove something to her? To show her that he didn't care about Gabriella or what? Because whatever he was trying to prove wasn't working at this very moment. It just looked like he was over acting himself. And she knew acting, she knew everything about acting.

"That nice, I guess." She said in a lost tone.

"Yeah. She's moving too…. I can't remember where. But she is… not for a while though." He explained.

"Oh. I see. So she came all they way here to tell you? I don't understand why she wouldn't just call or something…" She paused in the end catching Troy's guilty eyes.

Troy gulped. His mind went completely blank. He had no explanation for that since he wasn't Gabriella…and some things just had to be kept a secret.

"Well, I guess she just wanted to tell me face to face. I don't really know." He lied.

He was already living a huge lie. He would tell Sharpay soon though, she was going to find out eventually, but for now it was best to keep it between he and his friends. It was just better that way.

"I see." Sharpay nodded standing up to put her plate in the sink.

Troy smiled as her back faced him. He walked closer towards her before speaking again:

"Are you still in for the whole inviting our friends over? I could call some now if you want," He spoke.

Sharpay frowned to herself and turned around, giving Troy a faded smile.

"Of course." She let out a breath as he grabbed the phone.

The room was deathly silent again. Troy had left the room to go off to the living room and talk to whom ever he had called. Sharpay was left alone in the kitchen washing the dishes, trying to convince herself that her husband wasn't hiding anything from her. It hadn't crossed her mind for a long while—actually the whole Gabriella thing kind a left her mind, until today anyway. There were days when she completely forgot what had happened.

"She just had to show up and ruin my day." Sharpay rolled her eyes finishing the dishes.

A few minutes later, Sharpay had cleaned pretty much the whole kitchen. It was the only way she felt relax—by cleaning. When she finished she decided to check on Troy and see if he was off the phone with who ever. Much to her surprise, he wasn't. He was still talking. She stood by the doorway, listening. His back was to her and it didn't seem like he heard her coming at all.

"No. No. Sharpay hasn't suspected a thing." Troy spoke to the phone with a chuckle in the end.

Sharpay's eyes widened. Her body stiffened as she carefully listened to Troy's words.

"Gabriella. Stop worry so much. She doesn't know a thing." Troy laughed.

Sharpay felt her knuckles crack. Her face was turning red from being furious and confused. Now she knew the truth. There was no possible way for Troy to get out of this one now. How could he? He was caught. She heard him!

"Gabriella." She mouthed to herself in disgust.

She couldn't believe Troy. After all they've been through and how she had trusted him so much…she believed him. She took his words and yet he was going behind her back. She had a feeling. She just always hoped they weren't true. But now there was no denying the truth. The only decision she needed to make was whether she should confirm this with Troy or wait until he speaks up. He couldn't have thought he could go on like this forever.

And…Gabriella has just gotten married.

"Right. Right. Okay, then. I'll see you soon. Bye." Troy hung up the phone and made himself comfortable on the couch.

Sharpay just looked at him. All smiles, probably thinking of Gabriella. It made her feel sick all of the sudden and the terrible headache came back again.

"Damn." She cursed herself walking away from the living room.

It would have been a perfect moment to blow up on Troy, but this time she wanted him to come first and have a good explanation about how much a backstabber he was.

This time she wasn't going to forgive him.

* * *

"DANIEL! MADELINE! GET DOWN HERE!" Troy shouted prancing around the living room couch.

He noticed Sharpay hadn't been around which gave him more freedom to think of his little plan. It didn't hurt to get the kids involve--at least that's what he though.

Daniel was first to appear in the doorway. He had a basketball in his hand, which meant he was probably outside shooting some hoops. Soon Madeline came behind him with her usually pout. That meant she was probably doing something and Troy had bugged her.

"What?" Madeline barked angrily.

Troy shot his daughter a glare. He didn't like the tone she was using.

"I have to tell you two something, very, very important. And you cannot. I repeat. CANNOT, tell your mom. Got it?" He asked in a demanding tone making sure he planted his statement in the kids' heads.

The two nodded and looked at their dad eagerly. Secrets were always fun to know, especially when it meant hiding it from their mom—who just knew everything all the time.

"Okay!" Madeline giggled.

"Got that Daniel?" Troy looked over at his son who just nodded.

"Yes, dad." Daniel rolled his eyes.

"Okay, mommy wants to have some of our friends over—a get together…and we're going to have lots of people over…and Gabriella and I are…"

"Is she that one lady who was here?" Madeline asked.

"Yes, honey. That was her. Anyway, she's going to be around a lot. Okay?" Troy finished his sentence quickly as he heard footsteps coming from the hall.

"Okay? I don't get it." Daniel narrowed his eyes.

"Me either!" Madeline jumped.

Troy sighed. He knew they weren't going to get it and he couldn't say much or they would ruin everything.

"Never mind then. You'll find out later." He motioned the kids to go back to whatever they were doing.

Sharpay stepped into the living room, giving Troy her usual smile. Since he hadn't said anything yet, she wanted to act like she knew nothing. She would give him some time before she decide to give him the cold shoulder. It was only fair.

"I talked to Taylor, Chad, Kelsi, and Gabriella. They're all in for coming over this summer. I told them at the end of June, is that okay? I thought that would be a good time." He said glancing at the phone.

Sharpay nodded. Now, she didn't care. She wanted an explanation and soon. She wasn't going to wait forever—Troy might want to keep his little affair a secret for a long time.

"Fine with me." She shrugged.

"Good. I'll get to you brother and the others later on today." He smiled. "Oh, we're still on for lunch?" He asked before completely walking out of the living room.

Sharpay looked at the carpet.

"Um, you know what? I think I'll pass today. I already ate. So, some other time." She said.

"Oh." Troy felt disappointed.

_

* * *

Okay, so I lied. I said I would have In Her Eyes (the next chapter) up today. But I decided to work on this story since I haven't updated this in a long time. Next up, I think I'll update Four Years. Then Summer…and then In Her Eyes. Hopefully I can do all this…..THIS WEEK! Wish me luck!_

_I would REALLY love to hear your comments on this chapter. _


	26. Bad News

"Are you going to watch a movie with me?" Madeline asked bothering her dad.

Troy nodded looking at his magazine trying to ignore his daughter.

"What do you want to watch?" Madeline asked jumping on her dad's lap.

Troy shrugged and flipped to the next page.

"Well don't know either." Madeline said with a sigh.

"Why don't you go get your mom and ask her to choose one." Troy suggested.

"Okay!" Madeline skipped away.

"**Dad! Cell phone ringing!"** Daniel shouted from upstairs.

Troy dropped his sports magazine and rushed upstairs to get his phone. He looked at the caller ID and sensed that it was important. He picked up right away not taking any chances.

* * *

Sharpay searched through the movies deciding on which movie to have the kids watch. Madeline had begged her to choose the movie for the night since the little girl didn't know what to watch. It was frustrating her having to read every movie title with Madeline going "Ha" for every single one she read allowed.

"Just pick one!" Sharpay exclaimed giving up.

"Fine! Scooby-Doo!" Madeline grabbed the DVD out of the shelf.

Sharpay shook her head. She was mad all right for having to go through all the DVDs when Madeline could have easily picked one out. She placed the movie in the DVD player and handed Madeline the remote control. Daniel jumped on the couch and ordered his sister to get out of the way which caused a slight feud.

"I was here first!" Madeline cried sitting on the other couch.

"No need to argue." Sharpay said in a hush tone dimming the lights.

She left the living room and walked to the kitchen to pop some popcorn in the microwave. She wanted to watch the movie too, not exactly the movie since she had no interest in it but it was always fun to watch movies with Troy and the kids…especially when she had nothing to do and popcorn always made everything good.

Troy walked in the living room looking for Sharpay. Daniel and Madeline's eyes landed on him right away giving him a look as if he had interrupted something big.

"Your mother?" He raised his eyebrows.

Daniel pointed to the direction of the kitchen but still keeping eyes on the TV. Madeline lay on the other couch holding onto her teddy bear and looking very concentrated with the movie.

Troy entered the kitchen to find Sharpay holding a bowl of popcorn and four water bottles that she held with her arms. He took action and grabbed al four of the water bottles from her.

"Thanks." She smiled back.

"I need to talk to you—got a minute?" He asked.

"Sure. Let me just get this to the kids." She answered walking towards the living room.

Troy followed her and sat the water bottles next to the popcorn on the coffee table. He looked over to Madeline who was yawning endlessly.

"Don't tell me you're going to fall asleep watching Scooby-Doo now!" Troy joked.

Madeline giggled and reached out for a water bottle. Troy chuckled and handed her one knowing she wouldn't be able to reach it form her laying position.

"Aren't you watching the movie?" Daniel asked getting up to grab the popcorn bowl.

"In a minute. I have to talk to your mom first." Troy spoke grabbing Sharpay's hand and walking her back to the kitchen.

Sharpay was starting to get scared with whatever Tory had to talk to her about now. She didn't think it was serious until she saw the look in his eyes.

"Something wrong?" She asked sounding like she was going to cry.

"No. No." Toy shook his head taking her hands into his. "I just have to tell you something—some news…bad news," He added.

"What?" Sharpay felt his hands squeeze hers. "Is it something horrible? Does it have to do with me? Did I do something? Did Daniel do something? Did Madeline do something? You're not going to—"

"No. Don't get any ideas. My—my company just called and they need me. They need me to manage everything in New York." He started.

"Huh? New York? What?" Sharpay questioned not getting the idea of what Troy was talking about. She understood the whole work needing him part, just not the rest.

She narrowed her eyebrows and folded her arms across her chest wanting an explanation. She still wasn't very happy with the way Troy's work went sometimes. It was crazy and it kind a bothered her how the schedules were never really accurate. Plus they always asked for him at the wrong times.

"Well what?" She asked.

Troy took a deep breath and let go of her hands afraid she might hurt him after he explained everything. He rested his right elbow on it as well and his eyes met his wife's medium brown ones.

"They need me to go on a trip." He started already noticing some angry signs in Sharpay's eyes.

This was rather short notice and he knew it too. He knew she wouldn't be too happy with the news, but he had to bring it up soon.

"For how long?" She asked moving closer towards him.

"A month." He mumbled.

Sharpay's eyes grew weird—shocked. She blinked not sure if she just heard correctly—a whole month without Troy, already?

"A month? No Troy! That's too long! No!" She screeched getting ready to pull her own hair out.

"I know. I know. But it's important. You know that. I don't go to trips often—but this is really important." He stated trying to keep her calm.

"No! You can't go! What am I suppose to do for a whole month? What are you going to be doing for a whole month? How do I even know that this is about work?" Sharpay rambled on.

Troy grabbed her hand and stopped her from going any further. She was going on and on about none sense once again. He held onto her arm tightly and made full eye contact with her.

"It's for work Sharpay. I thought you trusted me. Are you accusing me again?" He asked eyeing her down.

Sharpay tore her eyes off his and looked down at the floor. She regretted making that comment after all that happened. It was just something stupid that came out of her mouth and it really meant nothing, but of course to Troy she knew it meant more than just nothing. Their whole relationship was basically base on trusting each other after what had happened. Sharpay had made sure to always keep her trust for Troy since he had pointed out so many times that he was doing nothing wrong and she really accepted that. Only this time—work and Troy never really matched her thoughts. She suspected him at first with having an affair with Gabriella who just happened to work for him—though she doesn't anymore, who knew what lies ahead.

"No. It's _not_ that Troy. Don't take that offensive. It's just too soon. Everything has just been starting to be well again and now you're going to leave for a whole month? It's summer—we're suppose to go do something together—as a family." Sharpay spoke in a low tone.

"You really need to start trusting me Shar. I thought you did. What am I suppose to do to gain your trust? Remember when you use to trust me and you never accused me of **ANYTHING**?" Troy spoke letting go of her arm.

She looked up at him once again and just gave him a pleaded look. She could tell that this was going to end up, as a huge mess like always. Every time they had a little argument, it just led to something stupid. They haven't gotten into any arguments since she woke up from her little coma and she was hoping for that to stay that way forever.

"I do trust! It's just hard—"

"Hard to what? Trust me?" Troy shot feeling he gloom with anger.

"No! Troy I'm just—I don't know!" Sharpay exclaimed backing away from him.

"If you want to keep the house you're living in and the money you get to waste then I suggest you let me go Sharpay. I need to work. You can't just tell me I can't do things especially when they have to do with money and a way to keep this family going!" Troy snapped.

Sharpay found herself sitting in the dining room now. For once, she wasn't able to handle an argument with Troy. It was him who started it this time, usually it was her. It just proved that she really wasn't that much stronger…

"It's hard Troy." She whispered. "It's not easy just letting you leave for a month. I'm not going to like it." She looked down.

Troy and Sharpay sat across from each other in the dining room in silence. The whole room was quiet and time felt like it froze. It was hard to break the silence and neither one wanted to. Troy was the one who mainly had the reason to speak first, but Sharpay felt like she should say something too. They were both out of words from the exhausted argument that they promised to never have. They didn't know what came over them, everything just came out.

"Hey, I'm sorry." Troy spoke.

He felt bad for yelling now and over reacting. It just hit him hard—mainly as a shock thought.

Sharpay was really shock to know that he was going to leave for possibly a month. She didn't want him to leave—she wasn't ready for him to leave again. She knew it wouldn't be easy getting use to not having Troy around once again.

"I don't know Troy. I don't know." She managed to speak her voice cracking with each sound.

"I'm sorry—but I have to go. It's not an option. I have to go. It's an important trip." Troy rested his arm to the table.

"Why? I don't want you to go." Sharpay shifted her body.

"I have to go. I'm sorry. I really have to go." Troy said as firmly as he could try to make it clear.

A huge sigh came out of Sharpay's mouth as she looked down to the floor. Troy knew how much she hated the news and he hated it as well but he got over it and he knew she would to. Even if a month sounded like forever it would eventually come and go. He knew he would be back soon and everything would still be the same. Sure this was a real sudden news after everything that happened but it was his job. He had to do it.

"I just don't think I want to spend a whole month by myself. " She spoke meeting his eyes for once.

"You won't be alone. Daniel and Madeline will both be here. I'll call you every night. I promise. It won't be that bad." He said reaching his hand out for hers.

Sharpay shook her head. It still wouldn't be the same without him by her side for a whole month. Plus it wasn't a good time to be parted since she hasn't been exactly feeling well the past few days. She needed him and he knew that. But he also needed to work so she had to let him go.

"Alright. Fine. I guess I can manage." She put on a small smile.

Troy stood up and gave her a kiss. Sharpay responded with a smirk on her face as she watched him head for the door.

"Come on." He spoke waving his hand for her to come.

Sharpay looked at him and then got up. They both walked back into the living room where both kids were watching TV, only Madeline was half asleep. Daniel was munching down on the popcorn non-stop while staring at the TV screen.

Troy and Sharpay made their way to the other couch across from Madeline and sat down together.

"A whole month." Sharpay mumbled.

"I know." Troy wrapped his arms around her as they cuddled on the couch together.

"Watching a movie here!" Madeline exclaimed referring to the talking going on across from her.

"You were asleep!" Troy shot back at his daughter.

* * *

**Okay, in the next chapter, you'll find out what the whole Troy and Gabriella thing was. It'll explain it. The next chapter is pretty much all explanation, I think. I haven't written it yet so I don't really know, though I have it all planned. :D **

**Sorry I didn't reply to your reviews this time. I got busy all week. I've been with my friend. :) She's leaving in a few weeks, I think. :( So I'm not really happy about that. Oh well, I just got her whole surprise party planned out. So that's my excuse if I lag again. Though I have been lagging this whole month. **

**I would like to hear what you guys have to say about this chapter, so please let me know. Comments, suggestions… anything:) **


	27. Shocking Truth

"Troy! Just what exactly is going on with you and Gabriella? You care to tell me? I mean, I know…. You told me that there was nothing going on the other night and all. But I heard you talking to her. And I didn't like what I was hearing." Sharpay spoke looking her husband up and down.

Troy shook his head carefully.

"It was nothing. Gabriella…well her relationship with whoever that guy was didn't last too long. She admitted that she had an affair or something—and the affair had to do with you. Sort of." He explained with a serious look on his face.

"Umm—what?" Sharpay asked not quiet understanding his explanation.

"She and Ryan have been seeing each other. She didn't want me to tell you. So we decided that we would have everyone gathered before she admitted it—with Ryan. But since that's not happening now that I have to leave, I had to tell her that she had to do it on her own and that I was going to tell you." He breathe letting his eyes wandering around the room.

Even he didn't feel comfortable having to explain that, especially since he had known all along about it. From the very beginning he knew about Ryan and Gabriella, it was just too weird to tell Sharpay, since Ryan and Gabriella together never crossed anyone's mind. He was shocked when Gabriella had told him, and then when Gabriella had told him she was marrying her long time boyfriend, he got even more confuse.

"Excuse me?" She raised her eyebrows at him.

It didn't sound like she heard him correctly. Her brother, with Gabriella? That wasn't possible. Ryan was already married. Her brother told her everything. She would be the first to know! How was it that Troy knew before her?

"It's true. You can even ask your brother. Gabriella got the idea of announcing it to all of our friends, and she was going to tell Ryan about it." Troy nodded.

"No. That's not possible. My brother and Montez? What?" Sharpay asked herself with a puzzled look on.

Troy just shrugged. He knew she wouldn't like it, but she wanted to know and he didn't want to lie. It would just lead Sharpay to believe something else and then the drama comes again.

"Why? I mean out of all the people in the world he could have had an affair with—why her? Why not…Kelsi? Or someone else! Why her?" Sharpay exclaimed.

She could not take in why her brother would do such thing. Though it was better than hearing it was Troy, her own husband having an affair. Still, her brother. The last person on earth and she expected to be the first person he would tell. She told him everything.

"Don't worry. I'm sure they'll do the right thing." Troy nodded. "Oh and." He paused catching Sharpay's worried eyes. "Gabriella is pregnant…."

Sharpay's eyes grew wider. What else was coming next?

"Ryan's baby?" She asked.

Troy nodded.

"Oh my gosh. Why didn't he tell me? You got me all suspicious with your phone calls from her and her frequent visits! Why couldn't my brother tell me?" She exclaimed with anger.

She hated being kept from secrets. One thing she was right about all along though, Gabriella was having an affair—luckily it wasn't with her husband, if she had done that, Sharpay would have really blown up.

"Don't kill yourself over it. And I still want our friends to come over sometime this summer. We'll have to cancel it until next month, but is that okay? I still want to see us all, together." He said placing his hand over Sharpay's soft cheek.

"That's fine with me." She spoke closing her eyes.

She was melting into Troy's touch. He always had something that made her feel all tingly inside and she felt like melting with pleasure. How she was going to miss that when he was gone. It didn't feel right letting Troy leave again, it would be like last time…and even if it wasn't really a huge mess, she imagined it like one and she didn't want that to happen for real. Why did he have to go on some business trip now? It was summer; they were supposed to do things together—as a family. The kids were out of school.

"I promise, I'll be back and everything will be like always. It'll just be a month. It's long, but it'll go by quickly. I'll call every day," Troy gave her a kiss on the lips.

Sharpay kissed him back lightly.

"You want to tell the kids that I'm leaving or do you want me to do it?" Troy asked taking a breath of air.

"You're the one leaving. You go tell them." Sharpay stated.

Troy sighed and left the room. He had no idea where the kids could have been so he decided to just walk around the house. Why did he have to break the new to them? True it was he who was leaving, so it was full on his responsibility but he hated making his kids sad and he knew they were probably going to give him sorrow looks for the next couple of days.

"They should be in the playroom. I saw Madeline in there a little while ago." Sharpay smiled as Troy walked back in the kitchen where she was cleaning up the counter.

"Is Daniel in there too?" He asked helping his wife by lifting up the fruit basket.

"He should be." She answered giving him the signal to go.

She was capable of cleaning the counter by herself, though she didn't mind having help, she just wanted him to go tell the kids before she ended up having to. That was the last thing she wanted—she didn't want to tell them again that their dad was leaving because last time that didn't go too well, even if this time Troy wasn't leaving forever, it still would be a mess. They weren't separating like last time—so he would be back…

"Shut up, Sharpay!" She cursed head for thinking of the past again.

It took a while but Sharpay finally managed to forget the past—and she was also able to pretend like it never happened…but sometimes she caught herself wondering what would have happened if she had never been in a car accident and she had never been in a coma…Would she have had gotten back together with Troy? Would he have married a girl named Marissa? Would she have met some guy named Kevin? So many questions came to her head. Would Troy be in New York now? How would the kids have taken everything? She hated not knowing what would have happened, but she was glad that she didn't have to go through any of that.

……..

"You're leaving?" Daniel asked pausing his video game.

"Why?" Madeline cried.

"Just for work. I'll be back. Don't worry. Mom will be here with you two. It'll be back before you know it. One month isn't that long." Troy explained.

"One month? DADDY! No!" Madeline cried.

She didn't want her dad to leave for one whole month. The whole time he was talking about leaving she was imagining a week. Not a whole month! That seemed like forever.

"I'll be back. And then all four of us can go in our family vacation and have our friends over—it'll be fun okay? I'll call every day." Troy sighed looking at his son and then his daughter.

"What about the game, dad? You can't miss it! It's the championships…" Daniel exclaimed.

"I'm sorry, Daniel. I want to go. I do, I want to see you. I know you'll make me proud, but I have to go to this trip. I have to. I can't just not go. It's my job. You two have to eat—and how are you going to eat without me making money? And you have to go to school too—I have to go to this." Troy explained.

"I don't want to go to school! You can take me out." Madeline exclaimed.

"I can't do that, honey. You're mom is very strict when it comes to getting you two into a good educated school." Troy chuckled.

"That's not fair!" Madeline cried again.

"Dad! You have to stay!" Daniel exclaimed loudly.

Troy sighed and pulled his little girl into a hug and his son too. He didn't want to leave either. Thinking about it now, a month seemed like forever.

"I'll be back." He whispered.

"Dad…." Daniel stepped back still mad.

"Daniel, I'll be back. I promise. While I'm gone, you be the man in the house. Take care of mom and your sister." Troy ordered.

Daniel nodded.

The kids didn't look too happy for the rest of the day but they started to get over it during dinnertime. Sharpay was still angry with her brother and she demanded to see him and Gabriella at the house tomorrow. She called Ryan and practically made him spill out everything that had happened. She wanted to know every detail and Ryan got frightened so he told his twin sister every little thing he possibly could tell her.

Troy felt kind a guilty for telling his wife about it when Ryan and Gabriella should have been the one to break the new to her, but then again he felt good that he didn't keep it from her because it would just lead to something else. He knew Sharpay was getting suspicious and he didn't like that, so she had to know.

"How sick. An affair? My brother is married—with two kids. What is wrong with him?" Sharpay exclaimed crawling underneath the covers next to Troy.

"You know how it is. When you're in love you can't help it. They were probably like that." Troy shrugged pulling her closer to him.

She sighed and nodded. That could have been it. But she just wished Ryan had told her before.

"How did you find out about it? I mean did Gabriella just blurt it out or what? Ryan said it's been going on for two months? Three? Something like that." Sharpay looked up at her husband in the dark.

Even if it was dark, she could still see his face clearly and his sparkling eyes staring at her.

"No. She got a phone call from her fiancé or whatever he is to her. We were talking and I was telling her about how we just got back from visiting Ryan, it was during that three day weekend, three months ago, before you kicked me out of the house and the whole mess started." Troy smirked. "She asked me what Ryan was up to and I told her. Then I started to get a little feeling. A strange feeling because she asked me about him so much. Then she told me about how she wasn't sure if she was going to keep working and stuff, and it just kind a slipper. She said 'now that I'm marrying Steve, I need to take breaks and make time for Ryan in my life too.' That kind a sounded weird to me. So I made her tell me everything. And then she made me swear not to tell anyone. So I didn't. She came over to tell me that she had just found out she was pregnant and that she was really scared. So I told her to tell you. She said she and Ryan would both tell you, together, when we have that whole get together. But that won't be happening for a while, so I told you." Troy said out of breath.

"I'm still shocked by it. But enough about it. You mister…you…you cannot leave me for a month!" She cried placing her hand on his cheek.

Troy kissed her forehead lightly. He couldn't do anything about it. He had to go.

"I love you, you know that." He kissed her again, this time on her soft pink lips.

"I know. I love you too." She closed her eyes melting in his warm kiss.


	28. Unpleasant Visit

Ryan and Gabriella arrived at the Bolton's house. Neither one wanted to really face Sharpay. She was the one who made such a big deal about it. She just never wanted her brother to do something like that—have an affair? Why? She didn't like that—especially since it took her forever to get use to Ryan's current wife, Annie. Now she had to get use to Gabriella? Great.

Ryan was the one who was nervous. He knew his sister would drag me out so they could be alone at one point so she can just stick needles in his eyes for what he did. He couldn't help himself. Though he knew better for his kids. But he just ran into Gabriella and the sparks flew. They went on one little dinner and it just went further. It was wrong. He was married. And she was getting married.

"You ring the doorbell." Gabriella cleared her throat.

"No—come on. I'm all ready dying here. You ring it." Ryan shook his head stepping away from the front door.

"Ryan. She's your sister. It's her house." Gabriella exclaimed pushing him towards the door.

Ryan looked up, he wanted to see how high exactly his sister house was since he hadn't been here. It was always Sharpay who came over.

"How in the world did these two afford a huge house with only Troy working and two kids?" He asked finally pressing the doorbell.

"He owns his own company—he's pretty successful, Ryan. You're sister is hella rich." Gabriella rolled her eyes hearing a little girl on the other side of the door screaming.

"And they spoil their kids too. I thought Troy was only a coach." Ryan said in a puzzled tone.

"He's a part time coach for his son, smart one. Do you not talk to your sister or something? I mean got all this stuff from Taylor because of Chad—and I did work for Troy for a little bit you know." Gabriella sighed as the door slowly opened.

A little blonde girl opened the door. She looked exactly like Sharpay, only younger and of course—she had Troy's eyes. She stared at Ryan for a little bit knowing he was her uncle that she never really liked. She barely saw him but she never liked him. She didn't have a reason. She just didn't feel like liking him. And then there was Gabriella, she didn't know her, nor did she care. But Gabriella came around too much and that was annoying.

"Mommy! It's that girl again!" Madeline yelled running down the hall.

"Madeline, I'm here you know. Don't open the door without my permission or your mom's!" Troy warned his daughter before greeting Ryan and Gabriella to come in.

Ryan and Gabriella awkwardly walked in the lovely house. Ryan already felt like going home as soon a he saw a blonde woman walk down the endless hallway.

"Ryan." Sharpay uttered with a fake smile on her face just to make her guest comfortable.

She gave Ryan and Gabriella both a hug and asked them to sit down in the living room where Troy was seated comfortably watching the news with chips on the coffee table.

It started off awkward just like any other uncomfortable event.

"Talk." Sharpay spat after their silence.

She expected for one of them to say something first, but since no one bothered to make a sound, she decided to.

Gabriella jumped at Sharpay's sudden voice breaking the silence.

"Well—er—erm—what do you want to know?" Ryan chocked on his words looking at Troy and then at Sharpay.

"Why the hell you two had an affair!" Sharpay exclaimed.

Troy wrapped his arms around her shoulder trying to keep her still. He was beginning to feel nervous with Sharpay by his side fuming. Why was it such a big deal to her? He was fine with it, in fact he didn't care about it.

"It's not like we planned it Sharpay. We just met up and…. well things happen." Ryan looked down at his feet avoiding meeting his sister's eyes.

"We didn't mean to hurt anyone. We couldn't help ourselves. What happened just happened. We had one dinner together and it just kept on going until we were both lying to our spouses…and we tried to stay away from each other as soon as Steve proposed to me…but it was impossible, Sharpay. Really." Gabriella explained using her most sweet voice ever.

Sharpay just smiled and acted as if she accepted her explanation.

"Well, are you two hungry?" She asked keeping her flawless smile on.

Ryan and Gabriella nodded. They were lying of course. They just had dinner, but if eating meant stuffing food in your mouth and not being able to talk about what has happened, they were in for it.

The four went to the dining, Daniel and Madeline had already eaten earlier and Troy and Sharpay both informed the two that they were to stay out of their way while Ryan and Gabriella were over.

"It's good meat loaf, Shar." Gabriella spoke first making sure that no awkward silence came again.

"Hmm." Sharpay nodded.

To Gabriella's luck, an awkward silence came and she had no idea what to choke out. The four of them just looked at one another oddly and looked back down at their plate.

"So—erm—what happen—what happened with you two? Didn't you have some family troubles or something?" Gabriella spoke looking at Sharpay.

The second she finished her sentence she regretted bring it up. She could have sworn Sharpay's eyes turned blood red.

"No. We did not have any family problems. We have our ups and downs. Nothing major." Sharpay hissed with anger in her voice.

"What about the whole acc—"

"Everything is alright." Troy sent Ryan a warning look.

"Right. Right." Ryan looked back down at his food.

The four of them finished dinner quietly. Afterwards, Sharpay informed everyone that she was going to clean up the table, and asked for Ryan to help her out. But really it was just her way of trying to get some time alone with her twin brother so she could blurt out everything that's been on her mind the whole time.

"I still can't get over it. You know how much I despite her!" Sharpay exclaimed loading the dishwasher while Ryan handed her the dishes.

"I know that. But it doesn't matter what you think. It's what I think. And right now Sharpay, she's pregnant with my child. I'm going to make this relationship work." Ryan said in a defensive matter.

"I understand that. But what about your wife? Um, you are still married to her. And you have two kids Ryan. What are you going to do with the boys, huh? Are you even planning on telling Susan? She might want to know. After all, her husband has been cheating on her." Sharpay sneered at him while wiping the counter, even if it was already as clean as it can ever get.

"I will tell her. Stop nagging me! I'm going to break it off with her. Look, Alex and James can live with me or however the whole thing goes. I'm still going to be there for them. I'm still their father. I'll figure it all out. I know what I'm doing, Sharpay. You don't have to push me. It's not like you have the best relationship with Troy either." Ryan scoffed folding his arms across his chest.

Sharpay stood up straight and eyed her brother. She gave him a scowled look and let out a hiss: "I _do_ have the best relationship with Troy. We have ups and downs, but in the end we have it together. At least we're not having affairs."

"You blamed for a while, didn't you?" Ryan questioned bitterly.

"How could I have not? And you know I never would have if you never decided to screw around with Gabriella. I would have never accused Troy or anything. So basically Ryan, it was your entire fault. So just shut it Ryan. Now that I think of it, I would have never kicked Troy out. I would have never been in a car accident. There were many things that happened and all because of your little affair with Gabriella and you two just had to get Troy in the middle!" She retorted in an angry tone.

"My fault? You're the one who doesn't trust your husband, Sharpay." Ryan fought back.

"Okay—honey, I think Madeline wants you." Troy broke in before anything else could possibly happen between the two siblings.

He had just walked in the kitchen when he found Ryan and Sharpay looking like they were going to stab each other's eyes out any second. Plus he got scared since the two were in the kitchen, standing next to the counter, where the knives were kept. He knew they really wouldn't go that far, but you could never be too sure.

Sharpay nodded and smiled at her husband before sending her twin brother one last glare.

Ryan just looked at Troy as Sharpay stormed out of the kitchen and into the hallway.

"She needs help." Ryan frowned.

"She's just upset. She kind a got mad that you didn't tell her first when she tells you everything. And she doesn't really like Gabriella." Troy said lowering down his voice as he got to the last sentence.

Gabriella was still in the house somewhere, he didn't want to turn around and find her right behind him. That happened a lot now a day.

"I know that. But she should still calm down. She's got problems." Ryan shook his head.

"I'm not going to get into your problem too much because the last thing I need is big problem while I'm away, but all I can say is that what you and Gabriella are doing is bad towards your spouses, and I understand that you're in love, but it's still pretty bad, man." Troy patted Ryan's shoulder before walking pass him and towards the fridge.

"She needs to take her anger out on someone else. I don't tell her who to be with. I never told her who to date, who to marry…" Ryan spoke walking away from the kitchen.

Troy choose to ignore his brother in-law. It was no mystery why he and Ryan were never close from the start. They had absolutely nothing in common. They were the complete opposite from each other and they hardly ever agreed on anything.

………….

"How exactly are you two going to figure this out? How many months are you pregnant anyway? Do you have any other kids?" Sharpay questioned trying to keep her calm towards Gabriella.

"I don't know. I kind a don't really want to be with Ryan anymore. I'm not ready for anything." Gabriella admitted looking down at her feet not wanting to see the reaction on Sharpay's face.

"You know what, I give up. I'm not going to say anything anymore. You two both screwed up your lives. And if you end up hurting my brother you'll be sorry." Sharpay warned heading for the stairs.

All Gabriella could do was stand still and think about what the blonde had just said to her.

* * *

**There are only about three more chapters for this story. At least I think so. I've got it planned to stop there... So we'll see. I'm finally getting the chance to write again. Yay! But school starts in two weeks. Geez. I wonder how much work I'll have. Oh well, I always write best during school times. Lol. I don't know why.**

**Thanks for reading everyone!**


	29. Troy and Ryan

"Troy hurry! You're going to be late!" Sharpay called from the living room looking at her watch.

One thing for sure, she was always on time. She never wanted to be late and she liked being prompt. Even if she didn't want him to leave just yet, she wanted to be on time.

Troy rushed downstairs dragging his suitcases down the stairs not even caring if he was ruining them. He didn't want to get his wife more upset than she already was. As soon as he landed on the last step he looked at Sharpay who was eyeing him down.

"What?" He asked innocently.

"Nothing." She responded quickly taking her eyes off him like she had just been caught staring at a crush back in high school.

Troy just chuckled and pulled her into a hug. Hugs or kisses always made everyone feel better from what it seemed, at least it made Sharpay feel better whenever he did it.

I'm ready, lets get going. I see you just want me out of the house as soon as possible." He joked.

"I don't. I just don't like being lagged. We have to be there, I want to be there on time. I don't like being late!" Sharpay exclaimed.

Troy nodded. He knew that. She had made it clear already.

"Kids! Come on!" Troy called before walking out of the house.

He got his stuff in the car and waited until Sharpay got in the passengers seat before he sat in the drivers seat. The kids came running out of the house together and rushed to the backseat. They were always like that, competing who gets which side when really it didn't matter.

"I'm going to miss this car." Troy patted the stirring wheel putting on a fake sorrowful look.

"Please." Sharpay scoffed looking at herself on the mirror.

She had no time for nonsense. But really she was just pissed off that Troy was leaving. A whole month without him was going to kill her, she just knew it. But at least he was for real going to some work thing—she didn't suspect any affair going on as her brother and Gabriella made their public appearance the other night. The idea of her twin brother and Gabriella still bothered her—and just the fact that Gabriella had no idea what she was doing made it worst.

The drive to the airport was rather short. Usually it was long and there was always traffic, today it didn't seem like there was anyone on the road but them, which made the ride, last only for a short while. At least that's how it felt to Sharpay. For once the kids were silent and didn't start an argument in the car. They were sad too. Dad was leaving again.

Troy was the first one to get out of the car, followed by Daniel and Madeline. Sharpay remained in the car sitting still just staring out of the windshield. Her life was filled with drama, more than High School. Everyday, it felt like she was still in High School with all the dramatic moments that came by every day. High School never ends.

"Shar, are you coming or not?" Troy asked throwing his stuff next to the car and out of the trunk.

Sharpay nodded and came to her senses. She stepped out of the car and sighed grabbing Troy's plane ticket out of her purse, holding it firmly in her hand.

"Come on, kids." Troy waved his arms for the kids to follow him into the airport.

He wrapped his arms around Sharpay while his other held onto his suitcase.

"I love you." He planted a light kiss on her forehead.

But she just shrugged and rested her head against his chest.

This wasn't going to be an easy good-bye. The way Sharpay was acting, she made it sound like he was going to be gone for then years or something.

…………..

"I'll be back before you know it." Troy smiled at his family.

Sharpay didn't return the smile. She just showed him her usual angry look. She wasn't anywhere near glad that this was happening to her, she couldn't imagine a whole month with Troy gone.

"Just hurry back." She snorted handing him his plane ticket.

"I'll try and I'll call you as soon as I get there." He pulled her in for a hug.

They hugged for several minutes before the boarding call came. Troy said good-bye to Daniel and Madeline and both gave them hugs. Then he left and walked towards the security check-up line.

"Bye!" Madeline called after him.

Troy waved back one last time before disappearing down the line with the crowd of people around him.

Sharpay patted both kids on the back and assured them towards the exit sign. She had a long day ahead of her.

As soon as she got in the car Madeline attacked her with questions.

"Where are we going now?" Madeline asked outside the car window.

Sharpay let out a loud breath and looked at the rear view mirror. She hated being asked that question. For once she just wanted to go somewhere without being questioned about it.

"To see my—your uncle." She answered.

"Why?" Madeline asked.

Sharpay felt her blood shot up to her face. She got annoyed easily, especially by Madeline who had to know everything that went around her.

"To visit." She answered.

"How come?" Daniel asked.

"Can we just go over to see your uncle? Do I have to explain everything?" She asked with coldness in her voice.

She already wasn't in a good mood.

"We just saw them!" Madeline cried.

Sharpay almost wanted to just duck tape her daughter's mouth. But she wasn't that cruel and she loved her daughter. Sometimes Madeline just got slightly annoying. But she was too loveable to punish.

Her head was pounding again. The same aching thud that came her way every time she got frustrated or annoyed. She always ignored the pain, it was nothing, but her kids were making it worst today. And without Troy, it was going extremely uncontrollable. After everything started to finally feel perfect once again, his job had to interfere again.

"Are we there yet? I need to potty." Madeline whined.

"Oh shut up." Daniel threw an empty water bottle at his little sister.

"Ouch!" Madeline groaned tugging on her seatbelt to get loose.

"Okay. Okay! Both of you. Please. I will pull over and hit you both with a water bottle if you keep it up!" Sharpay screeched loosing her mind.

The noise was starting to get to her and she was too scared to keep driving with her two kids hitting each other.

"I want the rest of the ride to Ryan's house silent. Not a word from either one of you." She announced in a calmer tone.

The kids seemed to have respected her request. They didn't say one single word the rest of the way.

As soon as they arrived, Ryan had greeted them right away, as he was alone. Sharpay made sure she looked happy to see him—though she was still keeping that grudge for what he did.

"Come in." Ryan said with a bright grin on his face.

He was hoping that his sister just came for a short happy visit. He hoped that it wouldn't be about Gabriella like last time. He wasn't in the mood to talk about it. But his dreaded wish came true when Sharpay brought it up after just ten minutes of being in his living room.

"What are you going to do with your life?" She asked not caring if her own kids were hearing the conversation.

Ryan cursed silently. He wasn't up for the question.

"Get a divorce. What else?" He spoke keeping his eyes on the not so interesting carpet. However, they seemed to be glued to it.

Sharpay cleared her throat loudly. "Excuse me? " She crunched her eyebrows together. "Ryan. What do you mean by filing for a divorce?" She asked in a very demanding tone. "You don't even know what's going to happen with you and Gabriella yet." She hissed holding Madeline tighter on her lap.

The little girl was in her own world looking at the ceiling and playing with the tip of her mom's golden lucks every now and then. While Daniel stood by the couch, leaning down, bored.

"I know what's going to happen. You don't have to worry so much. I have it all planned. I love Gabriella." Ryan's face lit up proudly as he looked up.

"You can't love her uncle. You're married." Madeline spoke interfering.

Though she had no idea what exactly the topic was, she just didn't want to seem so clueless.

"Shh. Honey." Sharpay whispered into her daughter's ear. "You're rushing Ryan. It hasn't been long enough. How do you even know you're the father of the baby? You really should wait." She insisted with a low sigh.

"How do you not become the baby's daddy? How baby's look at their daddies? Mom? How did I get daddy's eyes if I came from you?" Madeline asked puzzled.

Daniel snorted looking away—oh how oblivious his little sister got, even if he didn't know the answer either. Madeline just asked the weirdest questions, and most of the time they were pointless.

Sharpay and Ryan ignored the little girl's questions, and he thought about what his own sister just said. Maybe she is right. What if it's not his baby? They were in love though. And love is a very powerful word. He wanted to be with her. He belonged to her.

"I need the bathroom." Daniel announced leaving the living room.

"Can I go to the backyard?" Madeline asked.

Sharpay nodded watching her daughter skip down the hall.

"I would just really appreciate it if you stayed out of this." Ryan said firmly.

Now he was able to let some of his anger out since the kids were out of the room. He felt awkward having to get mad when his own niece and nephew were sitting right in front of him.

"I'm just letting you know, it takes a lot to make a relationship work—and last. You can't just wake up one day and figure out your whole life and imagine it to be perfect forever. It's not like that. The ups and downs come when you least expect it." Sharpay tried to give her brother hints to just think about it. It wouldn't hurt if they took their time. They were really moving at a past pace and that could ruin everything. As much as she disliked Gabriella, she didn't want either one of them to end up hurting each other.

"I know Sharpay. I know. Just because you and Troy are always struggling with everything doesn't mean every couple on this planet is." Ryan snap.

That made Sharpay furious. Her blank look suddenly turned angry, making Ryan wish he had never said those last words. It was hard to keep all your anger inside when deep down you just want to let all the boiling heat out and explode.

"We don't _always_ struggle, _Ryan_." She stated, her voice becoming heavy. "We've had our ups and downs, like everyone. We're not the _perfect_ family. But we know how to deal with things. We're not having affairs. I didn't mean everyone struggled. Not everyone cheats on their spouses." She spoke, chocking on her words.

It was obvious that Sharpay wanted to say more. She wanted to yell at the top of her lungs, but she was still at the point where it was controllable. That was the one thing she hated most in life—when someone criticized her family—especially when it was coming from her own twin brother who she had supported through everything in life, expect for maybe this. But that was just because Montez was involve and she had something against her. Maybe it was because she still felt angry with Troy working with her or maybe it was because she hated being kept secrets from. Whatever the reason was, she was mad.

"I don't want to talk about this anymore, Sharpay. Why don't you just go home and accuse your husband on cheating on you like you always do?" Ryan snared standing up.

"You know what Ryan?" She questioned. "You're giving me the biggest headache in my life! Don't ever ask me to do you any favor ever again because I won't be doing any for you. I'm tired of you screwing up! So you can go screw with Gabriella all you want and live your little life together—leave me out of it! I don't want to deal with you or her!" She exclaimed standing up and walking to the backyard where she knew Madeline was. "You bastard." She added before opening the back door wildly and calling both her kids who happened to be across the yard running.

* * *

**I'm going to wrap this story up soon my fellow readers. There's no more drama that I want to add and I just want to end this soon. There are probably three more chapters on the way. The next two I've already written. The last one I haven't because it's going to be the prologue. Part of me wants to have like a whole series of this story because I just think I can add so much more, I mean with Ryan and Gabriella I can totally make a stir, but ugh… I have so much to do—so many stories in the works. What do you think? I mean I don't have to end this story so soon…. I can have a part 3… but are you guys like getting bored? I know there's been lack of reviews lately. xD I need to work on Four Years. I've like totally ignored that story….and I probably will for another few weeks. **

**Summer, I have that pretty much all planned—except for the sequel to it, I totally am blanked for. But I don't have to worry about that yet.**

**In Her Eyes is going to last for a while. The drama hasn't even begun yet. Hehe.**

**It Happened One Night…eh.. Yeshi and I are just writing as we go. :D**

**I think that's all my stories in progress. So many. **

**So if I decide to end this story within the next three chapters, the next update should be soon since it's already been written. But it could change and I might decide to add more onto this story.**

**And also, I want to start writing other stories that's base on High School Musical 2—but I have to think of stories first. **


	30. When The Dog Runs

It had only been four days since Troy left for his trip and every day he called to check up on everyone just like he promised. He informed Sharpay about everything that was going on and what he was up to for the day. He also told her that there might be a chance for him to get back before a month and that made her happy. He called at least four times a day and it was actually starting to get on Sharpay's nerves. He called for no reason, one time he called just to tell her that he was eating a sandwich, but she wasn't complaining, she was glad to hear from him and it made her feel like he was there the whole time, making her laugh like always. It was different though since she couldn't just run to him and hug him randomly or receive a kiss from him out of nowhere.

Madeline ran around outside, along with Daniel and Buddy. They were playing around like always. Having a dog was a lot of fun for the two, especially since it's summer and they had nothing to do with their dad gone on his trip. Sharpay didn't want to go anywhere, she wasn't into the whole driving across the state thing or flying somewhere with two kids. To her that sounded like a nightmare. She figured she might as well just wait for Troy to get back home; it'll only be a month.

"DINNER!" Sharpay shouted from the back patio.

The kids stopped their game and ran to the house leaving Buddy outside to play on his own.

Dinner was filled with talking about how the day went and Madeline did most of the talking. Sharpay just nodded and looked at her kids once in a while. A lot of things did change when Troy wasn't around. Dinner seemed to be really short and the day seems to just last forever. It hadn't even been a whole week and it already felt like a month to Sharpay. The kids weren't helping her out either, they kept on asking to talk to him on the phone and they kept asking how many days are left until he came home.

In many ways it felt like what she was feeling in her dream. She felt alone and lost, but she had hopes though. She knew Troy would be back and he wasn't gone marrying someone, he was just off to some job thing. That was all. Gabriella didn't work for him anymore so she didn't have to worry about that and she believed him about everything. She trusted him…

"Mom, how long does it take to potty train a dog?" Daniel asked putting his plate away.

Sharpay shrugged thinking about it. She looked at Madeline who was also looking curious to found out the answer. She was glad that the kids were trying to figure out how to potty train Buddy themselves but she didn't really know how to potty train a dog.

"You might want to ask your dad that one." She said standing up.

"Okay." Daniel nodded.

Sharpay put all the plates in the sink and began to load the dishwasher while the kids went upstairs to do their own thing. After she got down loading the dishwasher she decided to pick up the house a little, mainly the family room since it was filled with board games that Daniel and Madeline have been playing with. She had nothing better to do but waste time and clean. At night there really wasn't much to do but sit around and do nothing. Most of the time she watched movies with Troy in their room before they went to sleep. Or they watched a family movie in the living room, all from of them cuddled together on the couch. Those were her favorite times with the family.

"Mom! Have you seen my teddy bear?" Madeline asked walking in the family room all dressed in her pajamas.

She looked like she just got out of the shower with her wet hair.

"It was in the playroom earlier." Sharpay spoke sitting down on the couch.

Madeline nodded and rushed back upstairs. The family room was all organized again and Sharpay was feeling tired. She headed up for the stairs when she realized that the dog was still outside. She walked to the back door and called out for Buddy. Sometimes the dog drove her crazy but she didn't complain about it. She was the one who suggested getting a dog and she agreed to let the kids pick out the dog. Of course they had to pick out a small wild little puppy.

"BUDDY!" She shouted turning on the lights for the backyard.

It was starting to get misty outside which meant slight rain would follow in a little while. Sharpay didn't feel like walking out to the backyard and looking for the dog. She didn't want to get wet or muddy. The grass would most likely be wet and she knew the soil would be all muddy from the misty sky.

"BUDDY!" She called louder.

The dog's collar couldn't be heard anywhere.

"Great." Sharpay rolled her eyes stepping out of the house and into the backyard.

She walked over towards the doghouse wondering if the dog was in there. She didn't want to leave the dog outside all night, it'll rain and she didn't want a messy, muddy dog. Keeping the house clean was her main rule. She hated having a messy house and she wanted it organize. She didn't want a dirty dog, or a smelly dog. She made sure that Buddy stayed clean and didn't mess up the house. Of course, the kids taught him to be wild and run around all the time.

"BUDDY!" She called looking in the doghouse.

Buddy wasn't anywhere.

After ten minutes of looking around the backyard, Sharpay gave up and walked back inside the house. She called for Daniel and Madeline right away wondering if maybe they let the dog in earlier. Madeline did go downstairs, Sharpay wasn't sure if Daniel did as well and got the dog, since Buddy usually slept in his room.

"Nope. He's been outside." Daniel answered walking down the stairs.

Sharpay and Madeline followed after her and walked towards the backyard.

"He might have gotten out." Daniel spoke.

The three of them walked to the backyard and looked around, searching for Buddy. Sharpay wanted to let the kids just do all the looking, she was already getting pretty tired and she just wanted to go back to sleep. But she didn't want anything to happen to the dog either.

"MOM! He got out of the house!" Daniel exclaimed looking over the side fence.

Sharpay looked over to it and could tell that the dog had dug a whole to get out. She knew this would happen at one point. She had explained to Troy so many times that one day the dog will learn to get out of the gate if he didn't put bricks around the gate opening.

'_Great. Just great. A missing dog…. at night.'_ She thought looking at her kids.

"Mommy…we **have** to look for him!" Madeline cried.

"Okay. Okay." Sharpay spoke opening the gate that lead to the front yard.

She had no idea where the dog would head to, but all she could come up with was looking around the neighborhood with a flashlight and hopefully finding the dog. Buddy never ran away before and she didn't know where to look.

"Where is he?" Daniel asked flashing his light across the street.

"BUDDY!" Madeline called.

All three of them walked down the street searching for Buddy. The rain was starting to pour down now and it was making all of them cold. The neighborhood was pretty quiet and it was really dark—too dark to see anything. The streetlights didn't help at all.

"Daniel! Where is—"

Madeline was cut off when she heard a bark across the street. Sharpay flung her flashlight at the direction of the bark and spotted the Golden Retriever right away. She rolled her eyes and walked across the street. She was glad that they found the dog for a few good reasons. She just wanted to get back inside the warm house.

"Come on Buddy!" Madeline called following her mom.

"Madeline—get off the street!" Sharpay exclaimed shooing her back to where she was standing.

She didn't feel safe knowing her daughter was standing in the middle of the dark street unattended. She felt rather safe knowing that she was standing on the sidewalk with Daniel by her side.

Madeline quickly ran back out of the street and stood next to Daniel. They both watched as their mom chased the dog around. Sharpay was feeling irritated as Buddy ran around making her chase him. She tried her best to stay calm, but the dog was just really getting to her. It ran the complete opposite way of her and it knew how to trick her very well.

"BUDDY!" Sharpay yelled running after the dog.

She finally got a hold of the dog. She felt like passing out from the running around and the humid night air getting in her lungs.

"Dog's trying to kill me." She said handing the dog to Daniel.

Daniel took the dog, along with Madeline and grabbed for the leash.

"I feel strange." Sharpay spoke as they approached their house.

"Why?" Madeline asked.

Sharpay shrugged and opened the door letting the kids in first. Then she closed the door and landed on the nearest couch. Her head was bugging her again and she felt really sleepy, and she was too weak to even stand up.

"Ow. My head." She closed her eyes managing to get back up and head for the stairs.

"MOMMY!!!!!!!!!!!!!" Madeline screamed noticing her mom collapsing to the floor.

Daniel ran over towards his mom, along with Madeline. Sharpay lay on the carpet, her eyes shut.

The two kids looked at each other in shocked and no one was around. Madeline let out a loud cry shaking her mom's shoulder. The scene scared both of the kids really bad. Madeline didn't even really see it coming, she thought her mom was just backing up but when she noticed her falling to towards the ground and then closing her eyes, she knew something was wrong!

"Mom!" Daniel tapped her.

Madeline looked at her brother with watery eyes. They were both really scared. Everything happened so fast.

"Mom…Mommy?" Madeline whispered wiping her tears with her free hand while she tucked her other hand underneath her mom's head.

The two kids sat in the middle of the house not knowing what to do. Sharpay lay still, her body beginning to grow cold. It didn't seem like it was a big deal, it just looked like she fainted but her whole body seemed to have stopped working. It must have shocked her whole body since she didn't even move or open her eyes.

"Mom!" Daniel exclaimed louder trying to wake her up.

He hoped this was just a bad dream or a little injury that didn't cause too much damage, maybe just a little headache—something small. But from what he could see, he didn't want to admit it, but it looked pretty bad. It took just a few seconds for his mom's face to grow pale and for her body to get really cold.

"Daniel…do something!" Madeline cried pressing her ear to her mom's heart.

"Stay here." Daniel ordered his little sister as her ran towards the phone.

Madeline nodded and kept her little arms around her mom's head. She didn't know what was happening, she wasn't sure if her mom was dead or alive. She couldn't tell. She was scared of being in this situation. It was like last time when her dad had to pick her up surprisingly from dance class and dragging her to the hospital where she saw her mom "sleeping". She hated hospitals and she was scared that she would have to go back in one again.

Daniel ran to the living room grabbed the phone. He knew to call 911 right away, but he also wanted to tell his dad too. But first he called 911 knowing a hospital would be best at this time and then he could tell his dad what happened. When he reached an operator, they questioned him about everything and it sounded like they didn't believe him at first, but when he heard sirens going, he knew that they finally believed him. He didn't remember to call his dad, as he was too scared to think about that. He wanted to get back to his sister and his mom right away.

When he got to the scene again the doorbell started ringing, the ambulance had already been at the front door begging to get in. At least six people walked in the house—all wearing white. A woman dragged Madeline away from her mom and pulled her into a hug leaving Daniel confused.

"Your mom will be fine—it's okay sweetie. Come on." The woman in a white uniform said leading Daniel and Madeline outside.


	31. Family

**Well.. first of all…. I didn't think Sharpay fainting would be a REALLY REALLY big deal. Lol. She just had a headache—but at first I was gonna have her…………err…die…but I felt too bad for the kids and Troy—so instead I changed it. Good right?**

**Another thing, this isn't the last chapter; there's one more.**

**So yeah……umm read on!**

* * *

"Feeling better today?" Troy kissed Sharpay's nose lightly making her crunch it.

She nodded and looked at the clock. It was already noon. They had slept in so late. Who could blame her though; she was at the hospital for some unknown reason that scared everyone to death. Troy had flown down the minute he got the phone call from the hospital. The phone call scared him. He refused to go back to his trip after yesterday.

"I'm fine. I was just feeling light headed. You can go back to your trip, Troy. I know it's important." She sighed sitting up using her elbows for support.

Troy shook his head. He wasn't going to ever leave. The first time he left, she ended up in the hospital, and when he left this time, she ended up in the hospital too. He wasn't going to take any more chances.

"MOTHER! I'm hungry." Madeline said in a singsong voice walking into the master bedroom.

Sharpay groaned and stood up. She forgot there was such thing as eating a minute ago.

Troy also got up and get going for the day. They were all very tired.

"Is your brother awake?" Sharpay asked as she and Madeline walked down the stairs together.

The little blonde nodded and skipped downstairs. When she reached the bottom of the stairs she looked at her mom who was taking her time with walking.

"Are you okay, mommy?" Madeline asked in a worried tone.

She hadn't forgotten about what happened last night. That was a really, really scary night for her and Daniel---and Troy.

"I'm fine, sweetie. I'm just sleepy. That's all." Sharpay smiled at her daughter.

Madeline nodded and walked down the hall towards the kitchen.

Sharpay followed her daughter and began to look through the kitchen cabinets. Should she make breakfast or lunch? It was noon already. She didn't feel like eating, but she was sure her kids wanted to eat.

"Madeline, what do you want to eat?" She asked watching the little girl get a water bottle from the fridge.

"Waffles." The little girl answered proudly with a smile.

Daniel walked in the kitchen and agreed to the waffles. It didn't sound like anyone was in for lunch. Troy was probably going to just go for coffee so she didn't even worry about him. She was just going to have coffee as well too.

……………

After eating a very late breakfast, the family decided to just chill and spend some time at home. Troy figured he probably should do some basketball practice with Daniel since it's been a while since he played with his son. And Sharpay wanted to just relax outside with Madeline.

"Try me." Troy said to his son who was trying to shoo the basketball to the net.

"No fair, dad. You're taller." The little version of Troy exclaimed bouncing the orange ball against the driveway concrete.

"You can jump. Try it. You'll be competing with tall people you know. Not that you won't get tall, because you will, buddy. Just try me." Troy chuckled trying to steal the ball from his son who managed to move faster than he could.

Daniel laughed and threw the ball to the net. He made a score, making his dad—the basketball champion look like a looser.

"You got lucky this time." Troy said snatching the ball from Daniel.

………….

"Oooh. Do we water this, mommy?" Madeline asked pointing at the yellow flowers along the fence.

Sharpay nodded and helped her daughter with the garden hose.

Madeline fixed her flowery hat on her head since it was beginning too cover her eyes and stopped her from seeing anything. Being outside with flowers was fun for the little one. She loved looking at the different types of flowers her front yard had to offer. Plus she loved spending time with her mom.

"Honey, be careful, you'll get your clothes muddy." Sharpay said to her standing from behind.

She was referring to her daughter's white shorts and the pale yellow tank top with a little orange flower in the middle to go with Madeline's hat. Madeline was the kind of girl who always wanted to look her best, which was why she always counted on her mom to pick out the clothes for her.

Sharpay was also being her fashionable self, wearing a summer white poke-a-dotted dress. She hadn't lost her sense of fashion from High School.

"Buddy! No." Madeline giggled stopping her dog from running in front of the hose.

Troy took his eyes off the basketball for a second and turned to his wife and daughter. They were on the left side of the front yard since the driveway was in the middle, making the front yards split. (I'm just imagining my own house as I write this. Hehe.) He laughed at the scenery of his girls trying their best not to get wet by the hose the dog had tried to take control of.

"Good boy, Buddy." Daniel mumbled with laughter.

"Hey!" Troy caught his son.

"What? It's funny." Daniel defended.

"Yeah, I know. Want to help Buddy wet your mom—and your sister?" Troy suggested eagerly.

His son looked at him oddly. His dad actually wanted to do something that would probably cause his mom to get mad for once? Of course he was up for it. He wouldn't get in trouble if his mom got mad. He could blame it on his dad, since it was his idea anyway. Any kid would love to do something like that to their mom and not get in trouble.

"Yeah.." he nodded.

Troy grinned and let the basketball bounce off on it's own. He stepped in front of the dog, with Daniel by his side and grabbed the hose, giving Sharpay the idea that he was helping them from the dog. Wrong.

"Blast off!" Daniel exclaimed pressing the knob with his dad.

"Tro—ah!" Sharpay screamed putting her hands over Madeline's face s the little girl wouldn't get too much water. "Troy! Stop it!" She said in between laughs hugging Madeline away from the water.

"Try to get the hose." Troy teased spraying the girls even more.

"Oh I'll get it!" Sharpay exclaimed snatching the hose and aiming for her son and her husband—and the dog too since he was waiting patiently to get wet.

"Get them mommy!" Madeline jumped wiping the water off her face.

Troy eyed his daughter while he grabbed his wife by the waist making her let go of the hose. The two of the came falling on the grass while the hose flew across the yard.

"That was one hell of a water fight." Troy chuckled brushing some water off Sharpay's face who was lying on top of him, while he laid on the wet grass.

"Yeah it was." She gave him a tender kiss, wrapping her arms around his neck.

Troy gripped onto her waist tighter as he responded to the kiss, rolling over to be in control.

"EW." Madeline giggled covering her eyes.

She did not want to see her parents kissing in the middle of their front yard.

Daniel just laughed and rand towards the hose to aim for his little sister who started screaming and running away from him.

"I love you." Troy kissed Sharpay's forehead.

"I love you too." Sharpay hugged him as he slowly stood up with her arms around his neck.

They two let go of each other and watch as their kids played.

"Careful!" Sharpay warned them both.

"Come on." Troy grabbed her hand and led her to the chairs on the patio.

Before taking a seat himself, Troy turned on the sprinklers.

"Dad!" Daniel yelled running around to avoid the water.

To Troy and Sharpay, it was fun watching their kids scream and run around like insane people. As long as they were having fun.

After a few more minutes of water playing, Troy stopped the kids before they ended up getting sick from their wet clothes.

"Come on, Dan. Shower up." Sharpay hugged her son who was drenched. "Whoa you're soaked." She laughed giving him a kiss on the head.

"You okay, mom?" Daniel asked puzzled.

"I'm fine. Can't I show you some love now and then?" Sharpay rolled her eyes.

"No. I'm not little anymore." Daniel said with a proud smile.

"Oh—well, you're still my baby Daniel. You're still my little baby boy." Sharpay smiled hugging her son tighter.

"Mom!" Daniel exclaimed.

"Yes, baby?" Sharpay teased. "I mean Yes, big boy?" She laughed at looked at her son deep in the eyes. "You're growing up too fast. You use to be all "Mama! Dada!" now it's all about basketball. You and your dad. Oh, I'm proud of you honey," She kissed her son's head one more time.

"Thanks mom." Daniel nodded.

"Everyday, you look more and more like your dad…go shower now…" Sharpay ruffled Daniel's shaggy blonde hair.

"Okay." Daniel nodded again.

"I love you." She said to him in a lower tone.

"I love you too." Daniel spoke before running upstairs to get in the bathroom.

Sharpay turned around to go look for her husband and daughter who just disappeared. Today had been a great family day. No doubt about it. Yesterday was just a blur. Maybe it was sign that without Troy by her side—she just wasn't going to end up doing well.

"You look like your mom—way too much." Troy's voice came from the kitchen.

"Cause I'm pretty like mommy—right?" Madeline smiled with a big pride on her face sitting on the kitchen counter.

Sharpay laughed to herself and stood by the kitchen walkway just watching Troy and Madeline. Madeline didn't get nowhere near as muddy and wet as Daniel so Troy was just cleaning her off.

"Of course you are. You got everything of mom's. Your pretty hair. Your nose." Troy stroke her hair and poked her little nose. "Your smile, your laugh…your face…your talent. But you gotta have one thing of daddy's you know. That's why you got my eyes." Troy patted himself in a proud manner.

Sharpay smiled at Troy's action but kept quiet. No one had noticed her yet.

"Yeah. Mommy said they are very pretty." Madeline spoke while Troy wiped her hands with washcloth.

"She tells me that all the time. She was so glad that you and Daniel got my eyes—she had always told me how much she loved them, but you know what? Her eyes are beautiful. You can just look into them forever and just melt away." Troy smiled finishing up with the cleaning Madeline's hands and feet.

"Melt?" The little girl questioned wiping herself with the dry cloth her dad had given her.

"Adult talk. Don't worry about it. When you're dating you'll know what I mean—and you better not know until your thirty." Troy warned his little girl as he picked her up and placed her down on the tile standing.

Madeline giggled again and sat down on the chairs by the kitchen island.

"But mommy said I could have a boyfriend. Joey is very nice daddy." The little blonde looked at her dad with sparkling eyes.

"Joey? Our neighbor? Is that why you're always playing with him? My little girl has been dating behind my back?" Troy asked with a fake gasp walking over to her and giving her a warning glare.

Sharpay couldn't help but laugh a loud. She couldn't keep on laughing quietly now; she walked up to Troy and Madeline and joined their conversation.

"Your son has a girlfriend, too." She said with a smile while wrapping her arms around Troy's waist.

"Daniel has a girlfriend? Okay—okay…. I have a six-year-old and a nine-year-old, not a thirteen-year-old and a sixteen-year-old even that's too young in my opinion…why am I just hearing about this?" He asked puzzled turning around to hug Sharpay.

"Hey, I' not the one sneaking behind my dad's back. Ask them two. I didn't even know about Daniel until yesterday morning. A girl called for him. AS for this one." Sharpay placed her arm around Madeline's shoulder. "She's a flirt."

Troy laughed and shook his head. Boy he had a crazy family, but he loved them with all his heart.

"Mom, why is the playroom lock?" Daniel walked in the kitchen shaking his head trying to dry off his hair faster.

Both Troy and Sharpay shrugged.

"N one knows, kiddo. But forget that. We're going out. So to the car—now—the SUV." Troy picked up Madeline and patted Daniel to walk with him.

"Daddy, I want to be put down. I can walk on my own." Madeline had a sullen look on her face.

Troy rolled his eyes and followed his daughter's command. The little girl ran back and grabbed her mom's hand.

"Playing favorites." Troy chuckled putting his arms around his son.

* * *

Just the family back together again... One more chapter left you guys. 


	32. Last Day Of Summer

**Finale Chapter Of Circles:**

Sharpay pushed the silver cart around the grocery store with her little daughter tagged behind wanting every junk food they passed. It was still quiet early in the morning and Sharpay was rather sleepy. She wished she had just gone grocery shopping the night before and maybe she wouldn't have had to get up so early. But she was a last minute person, and that was how she lived her life.

"Oooh. Oreos. Mommy?" Madeline smiled, her eyes wide.

Sharpay shook her head and sighed.

"Whatever Madeline. Get whatever you want." She shrugged pushing the cart further.

Madeline jumped and grabbed the pack of Oreo cookies. Her favorite cookies.

"So we got about six bags of chips. Every soda you can think of…. Lots of cookies…what else do you think everyone will be snacking on for the afternoon?" Sharpay asked her six-year-old daughter who of course had no idea.

"Ice cream?" The little blonde suggested.

"No way! Sharpay Evans. President of the Drama club!" A voice made Sharpay jerk and turn around, along with Madeline.

Sharpay stared at the figure in front of her, not quiet remember who was standing within her gaze.

"Martha?" The name came to her mind.

"Yes." The brunet nodded pulling Sharpay into a deep hug.

Madeline just stood and watched her mom, confused. Normally she knew all of her mom's friends. But not this one.

"Long time no see!" Martha exclaimed as she and Sharpay pulled apart.

Sharpay just nodded. She was never close to Martha in high school. But then again, she wasn't close to Taylor or Chad either, and now look what they've become? Close friends, due to Troy. That goes for Kelsi too—partly.

"Oh look. You're daughter?" Martha looked down at Madeline who just smiled brightly, making sure her blue eyes shined.

Sharpay nodded and smiled down at her daughter.

"She adorable. Hi there." Martha smiled down at Madeline.

"Hi. I'm Madeline Elizabeth Bolton. I'm six-years-old." Madeline held her hand out to shake Martha's.

She had noticed her mom and dad do that gesture once they've met someone, she figured to follow. Since after all, her parents were her role models in life.

"Bolton? You and Troy—"

"Yeah." Sharpay cut her off knowing what the question was going to be. "We have a son too. Daniel, He's nine."

Martha nodded. Sharpay very well knew she was in shock. Not that Sharpay cared anyway. She didn't feel guilty for not inviting Martha to the wedding; she didn't even speak to her, until now. She never even knew her.

"Wow. Things have changed. I don't live here anymore. I'm just in town for a visit at my parents this week. The boys need to see their grandparents." Martha smiled sweetly.

"Oh. Yeah." Sharpay said in a soft tone. She wanted to get on with shopping. "If you'd like, Troy and I are having a little backyard pool party, barbecue kind of thing later on today. Just hanging out, like a mini reunion with old friends you know? You're welcome to come if you'd like." She said knowing it would be the right thing to invite Martha over.

Martha nodded and informed Sharpay she would keep it in mind. Sharpay gave gladly gave her, her address and went on with shopping before she got far too distracted and Madeline got even more irritated.

"Who was that?" Madeline asked curiously as Sharpay pushed the cart further down the isle.

"Old high school classmate." Sharpay shrugged it off.

"Oh." Was all the six-year-old said before they headed for the frozen section.

**000**

"Daniel. How about you and I go make sure the pool is clean before everyone gets here?" Troy suggested trying to get his son off the video game he had been playing all morning.

"Why?" Daniel responded not taking his eyes off the TV screen.

"So we can make sure it's good for all your champs to swim in." Troy shrugged not really having a reason.

"The pool people came today. It's clean." Daniel pointed out.

"Daniel. Come on." He walked in his son's bedroom.

Daniel rolled his eyes and paused his video game knowing he wasn't going to get out with this one, as much as he disliked getting up and going downstairs to the backyard and to the pool—especially when he was comfortable playing a video game and trying to reach the highest level possible.

"Aren't you excited? We're gonna have everyone together—like when you were younger." Troy tried to sound excited as the two of them walked down the long stairs.

"I guess. I don't even remember any of them." Daniel admitted.

"Yeah I know. That's because we never go visit them anymore. We've pretty much drifted apart… Life gets in the way." Troy spoke softly. "That's why you should try to always keep in touch with your friends. I've been friends with my friends since I can remember—and keeping in touch is the best thing you can do…. really." He added. "When you grow up, you get busy…with work….kids…you know." He shuffled his son's hair who just looked at him oddly. "You should listen to what I have to say, Champ. These important things in life."

Daniel nodded. "Yeah. I know. But I'm only nine dad." He pointed out as they made it to the back deck. "All I have to worry about is being good at school and being good in basketball…and making sure my sister doesn't annoy me."

Troy chuckled as he unlocked the gate to the pool.

"Be nice to your sister. You only have one." He smirked letting his son in first.

They looked around the pool area. The pool was as blue ever.

"So…why are we here?" Daniel asked as he walked around the outline of the swimming pool.

Troy smiled.

"Making sure the pool is clean." He said as he held his hand out to his son's shoulder and pushed him down.

_Splash._

Troy chuckled as Daniel swam up with a frown on his face.

"That was no funny!" The nine-year-old scolded swimming his way to the shallow end.

Troy held out a hand to help his son up as he reached the steps.

Daniel stood up and frowned. He did not see that coming.

"So how's the water? Good?" Troy asked simply.

"I don't know!" Daniel exclaimed. "Why don't you go see for yourself!" He demanded pushing his dad into the water.

_Splash._

It was the boy's turn to laugh while his dad popped up.

**000**

The summer sky was bluer than ever, while the sparkling sunshine brightly. The perfect summer weather in New Mexico—rare summer weather. It was not as humid, it was sunny and yet a cool breeze came every now and then. A perfect weather to end the summer.

The children's laughter echoed through out the yard, while chattering form the picnic table overlapped them…the perfect get together.

"Here, I got it." Troy grabbed the salad bowl from his wife who had been spending a lot of her time in the kitchen trying to make sure everyone was satisfied with food. "I think we have enough food, Shar. Zeke is grilling some hotdogs outside. Come on and actually join _our_ party." Troy kissed her lips lightly before going towards the sliding door and to the backyard deck.

Everyone sat on the back patio, just chatting and laughing. It was mainly the guys who were making jokes. Corny jokes.

"Great place you have here." Kelsi nodded look up at the Bolton's large estate and then to the swimming pool where all the kids were happily screaming and splashing around—playing games.

"Thanks." Troy and Sharpay smiled together as they found their place around the table.

"You're still looking fit after having two kids." Taylor glanced at Sharpay. "Everyone seems to look exactly like they were back in High School." She giggled.

Everyone joined the laughed.

"So peaceful here." Kelsi sighed looking around the perfectly done yard.

"We should have little get togethers… Like this every year." Martha suggested eagerly.

All ten heads nodded, agreeing.

"Sounds like a wonderful idea." Kelsi smiled looking at Troy and Sharpay.

The two smiled back. Sharpay liked the idea, though she did not want to have their little gatherings at her house every year. It was a hassle planning for this to happen, she could not imagine doing it all year. The idea was great—just not when she had to run the whole thing.

"Yeah, but maybe we should change locations—houses. You know? Each of us taking turns?" Troy suggested, somehow reading his wife's concerned look.

Sharpay placed her hand onto of his under the table, letting him know she was thankful for him actually bring that idea up.

"Oh yes, that would be better. Give you two a break. I'd be more than happy to have it at our house next year. Same time—just about?" Taylor said with a big grin.

"We have no pool though." Chad added quickly glancing at the kids who were jumping and splashing around—screaming with delight. "So the kids will have to do something else." He shrugged looking back at his friends.

"They're kids. They'll find something to do." Jason spoke. "Just have lots of candy. They'll be satisfied." He chuckled along with everyone else.

"It's set then!" Taylor exclaimed already excited for next year to come.

Everyone shared their ideas of what's ahead and how things are going with their lives. The whole time, Sharpay could not help but think of how upset she felt about her brother not showing up—or Gabriella. As angry as she was with Gabriella, she learned to push it aside and welcome her into the family. She made sure Gabriella knew that by inviting her to the get together face to face. She drove to her house and asked her, personally. It was not a joyful feeling to find out that neither her brother nor Gabriella decided to show their faces.

"I'm going to check on those hotdogs." Zeke excused himself.

Troy nodded, giving him a 'thank you' look. Lucky for him, Zeke was around to cook the food and run the whole barbeque. He already had a lot to do along with Sharpay.

As time went on, Sharpay felt herself become disappointed. It was not the party, she liked it very much. Though she was upset due to the fact that her own brother did not show up. She wanted him to come. He and Gabriella. She apologizes so many times. She had confronted them of how sorry she was about her reaction and that she knew better than to judge Gabriella the way she did. It had been two months. She was over it. You can't stop love. If Ryan is in love with Gabriella, she was going to learn to back off and like Gabriella for who she is. She asked them endless times to come and join the get together—and the result turns out they didn't bother.

"You okay?" Troy whispered in Sharpay's ear softly, trying not to catch anyone's eyes.

"Fine." Sharpay bit back, forcing an unwanted smile.

"So…basketball? Is Daniel going to play this year too?" Chad asked changing the conversation from across the table.

"Yeah. Yeah. I hope." Troy nodded unsure. "If he wants to." He added in a lower voice.

The friends went on with the topic of basketball and other sports. It was the first time in a very long time where all of them were able to chat; face-to-face and just laugh it off for the day. Lately it had been so hectic and focused on work—and the children. It was a new tradition they were all going to commit on doing every summer. Just one day of the year where they can all relax and be with their friends for the whole day.

"No more whine in the house, Shar?" Kelsi asked curiously wanting another glass.

"There's more in the garage, I think." Troy stood up.

He walked away, heading for the garage and searching for the drink his friend desired. As he searched through the cold garage, he heard a car door shut, making him curious. Without any hesitations, Troy pressed the garage door opener.

"Hey Troy." Gabriella's smile met his eyes.

He let out a soft 'Hi' and a quick wave as he watched Ryan approach him. A light smile came across his face. He was glad to see Ryan and Gabriella come—after all, he knew Sharpay had been feeling down about it for the last couple of hours.

"Hey man." Ryan shook Troy's hand firmly.

"Glad you two good made it." He gave Gabriella a friendly hug. "Everyone is here, and wondering where you two are—especially Sharpay." He added leading the two inside—through the garage.

He escorted the two towards the backyard, where everyone was still chattering and laughing along, though it was starting to get dark.

"Ahem." Troy cleared his throat.

The chatting paused as everyone's eyes landed on the pair behind Troy. Gabriella's stomach was starting to show, and Ryan kept his eyes steady with everyone else's.

"Ryan. Gabriella." Sharpay stood up with a warming smile.

She greeted them both with a hug—just glad to know that this was a sign of Ryan and Gabriella getting over the unfortunate encounter they had before.

Everyone welcomed Ryan and Gabriella in the group and the night seemed to have last forever.

"Are you excited for the baby?" Kelsi Gabriella knowing this would be her first child.

Gabriella nodded. "Very." She patted her stomach.

"You're going to have a baby?" Madeline asked curiously as she sat on her dad's lap, cuddled with a towel.

"How many?" Jessica, Kelsi's daughter asked.

Everyone chuckled.

"Just one honey." Ryan answered.

The rest of the children made their way to their parents, to be hugged from the coldness of the air. They had been swimming all day.

Sharpay sat back down between Troy and Daniel…with Madeline still on his lap, munching on a watermelon.

"Our tradition?" Troy asked.

"Forever." Everyone spoke.

**000**

**Sad to say, but this is IT. The story needs to end so I can move on with my other stories. You guys have been very good readers and I appreciate those of you who took your time to comment every chapter. It really means a lot. This story has gone longer than I have ever imagined and it's time to let it come to an end. Happy reading everyone!**


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